1 Million kilometers for Clean Sports Clothes, handed to Bioracer

© Mine Dalemans

A team of valiant KWB and World Solidarity cyclers hands over 1 million bike kilometers to Limburg cycling gear company Bioracer, together with a request to make Clean Cycling Clothes  a reality. ‘Clean’ stands for respect for the human and labor rights of the workers making cycling gear. The CEO of the company receives the activists and listens to their questions. Read the account below.

How it started
Last year KWB-cyclists and the NGO World Solidarity went on a clean Clothes Expedition to Indonesia. During a solid cycling tour on the island of Java, they researched the circumstances in which our sports gear is produced. The participants were shocked by what they saw, and they have been on the frontline of making people aware of labor conditions in the garment industry ever since. They wanted to do more than just telling their story, however. Through the action ‘Ik fiets voor Schone Kleren’ (I cycle for Clean Clothes) they invited every Flemish citizen to collect cycling kilometers, in order to show that the ‘consumer’ really does care about ‘Clean Clothes’. Within 7 months they collected over 1 million cycling kilometers: 12.376 cyclists in 145 groups collected 1.032.371 kilometers, an unexpectedly strong result.

No supply
During the preparation for their trip to Indonesia the cyclers realized that there is hardly any ‘clean’ sporting gear available in Belgium and no Clean cycling gear whatsoever. None of the distributors are affiliated with the Fair Wear Foundation (FWF), and Clean cycling shirts for teams, to be printed with sponsor info, are impossible to find. For that reason the travelers decided to go and purchase their cycling gear for the Indonesia cycling tour in Germany, through the brand GONSO, an FWF affiliate. Jef Cattebeke (on the right in the picture), kwb-er and cyclist with the Clean Clothes Expedition: “In every group in which we tell the story of our Indonesia trip, people come to us asking where they can find Clean cycling gear. Currently, it is really hard to find, you have to go abroad, and that doesn’t feel right. With the support of consumers we hope to influence the purchasing policies of sports gear companies and make them aware of their responsibilities regarding the working women and men producing their collections.”

Bioracer
On November 24th, after a meeting with the press at the Defraeye-Sercu cycling track in Rumbeke, West-Flanders, the cyclists took all the collected kilometers to the headquarters of Bioracer, a cycling gear producer and distributor in Tessenderlo, Limburg. CEO Danny Segers is handed the 1 million cycling kilometers personally. Andre Kiekens, director of the NGO World Solidarity: “This action proves that there truly is a demand from consumers for ethically produced cycling gear. It is also the voice of the customer you are hearing: a message to Bioracer, as an international player, that developing a CSR policy also provides commercial added value, and from us an invitation to collaborate in a constructive manner. It is definitely a positive signal that Bioracer is willing to meet and talk with us.”

A man is the measure of all things
After welcoming the delegation, Danny Segers, the CEO of Bioracer, elaborates on the history, mission and strengths of the company. Bioracer provides cycling gear to professional and amateur cycling teams both in Belgium and abroad, including the Belgian and the Flemish cycling teams, and their many affiliates. Segers zooms in on their markets and their production sites: in Romania, in the Czech Republic and in Belgium. Afterwards the Bioracer CEO gives an extensive explanation regarding their ‘People and Environment’ CSR policy. “We strive to keep production as close to our market as possible in order to minimize the impact on the environment, using almost exclusively European materials, and keeping the production chain as short as possible.” Segers continues: “For us CSR is always a double narrative of respect both for people and for the environment. When it comes to wages for workers, we are doing well, I think. As far as the environment is concerned, we can certainly do better, especially when it comes to saving paper. We want to formalize our ‘human rights’ policy and look into pursuing an external organization label or membership.” The activists emphasize the fact that it is important to communicate transparently about this with the consumers. If Bioracer keeps taking its motto - “A man is the measure of all things” - to heart, then collaboration with the Clean Clothes Campaign will be spotless. To be continued, without a doubt.

A major public campaign about “Clean Sports Clothes” is about to be launched in 2017, aimed at Belgian sports gear companies, together with ACV-CSC, some professional federations of ACV-CSC (ACV-CSC Metea, LBC-NVK, ACV-Sporta, ACV-CSC Food and Services, ACV-CSC Public Services), KWB and OKRA-sport, powered by World Solidarity.

Text: Jaklien Broekx