Tell Roots Canada to Raise the Bar on Labour Standards 

"Play Fair at the Olympics" Campaign

Maquila Solidarity Network

April 6, 2004 

An overwhelming number of concerned consumers have responded to the 

"Play Fair at the Olympics" campaign launched last month calling on 

the Olympic movement and sportswear companies to take action to 

ensure their products are made under humane working conditions. 

Over the past four weeks, Canada's official Olympic uniform supplier, 

Roots Canada, has received over 1,000 letters and e-mails asking the 

company to adopt a credible code of conduct and a transparent factory 

monitoring system.  MSN would like to thank everyone who took part in 

this e-mail and letter-writing action.

In response to these demands, Roots has released a "Workplace Code of 

Conduct" and announced that it has hired a US-based commercial auditing 

firm, Cal Safety Compliance Corporation, to carry out factory audits. 

Unfortunately Roots has set the bar too low for its suppliers when it

 comes to labour standards.  The company's new Code of Conduct falls 

far short of the core labour rights set out by the International Labour 

Organization (ILO) in several areas.  The code allows discrimination 

based on race or gender where it is permitted under local law. 

It also sets the minimum working age at 14, whereas the ILO sets it 

at 15 and allows only certain developing countries to lower their 

minimum age to 14.  The Roots code does not provide for payment 

of a living wage, nor does it prohibit excessive hours of compulsory

overtime.  The most serious omission is the fundamental rights of workers 

to freedom of association and to bargain collectively, which are not even

mentioned in the code. 

Even companies like Nike and adidas-Salomon, both Olympic sportswears 

suppliers have made stronger commitments to workers' rights in their 

codes of conduct.  They also provide some information to consumers of

the results of at least some factory audits, whereas Roots provides no 

information on the audit process or results.  Why is Canada's official 

Olympic clothing supplier doing so much less?  It's time for Roots to

 raise the bar on labour standards for its suppliers. 

REQUESTED ACTION

Please join us in calling on Roots Canada to raise the bar and provide 

more information to the public.  Roots should bring its code in line 

with ILO core labour rights conventions, and also add provisions 

requiring payment of a living wage, a regular work week of no more 

than 48 hours, no forced overtime, and no workplace abuse or harassment.

Roots must also provide the Olympic movement and the general public 

with verifiable assurances that these standards are being met by 

developing a transparent monitoring system. (See sample letter below.) 

Send your letters to:

Marshall Myles, CEO, Roots Canada Ltd.

Fax: 416-781-3259

E-mail: rperkins@roots.com

To read the Roots Code of Conduct, visit:

http://www.roots.com/new_canada/html/about_us/RootsCodeofConduct.pdf 

To contact Roots Canada:

Marshall Myles, CEO

Roots Canada

1162 Caledonia Rd

Toronto, Ontario, M6A 2W5

CANADA