International News Items - December 2004

Iberia Air to Get New Uniforms

Belgium , November 19, 2004 (Lunchtzak Aviation website) - Ten thousand Iberia employees in the air and on the ground will soon be wearing new uniforms designed by renowned Spanish fashion designer Adolfo Dominguez. Included in the extensive program are trousers for female staffers – a first for the airline. .

In mid-2005, the nearly 30 million passengers who fly with Iberia every year and the 80 million users of Spanish airports will be able to admire the new uniforms that the Spanish designer has created exclusively for the carrier.

The designer, from Galicia , in northwest Spain , combines elegance with functionality in an innovative proposal that meets the company's expectations for the image of its staff. A uniform that conveys professionalism and security and which, for the first time, includes trousers among the optional garments that may be worn by female staff.

"Night blue" is the predominant color of the new uniforms, with backstitches in red for flight personnel and in mustard for ground staff, both being Iberia 's corporate colors. Red will still be used to distinguish Iberia 's "red jacket" staff responsible for dealing with incidents and supplying special care to passengers in airports.

All the design is in line with Adolfo Dominguez' style: jacketed suits of a sober elegance, with V-necks and quality materials. Skirts or trousers, blouses, jackets, belts, handbags, shoes and gabardines make up the uniform to be worn by Iberia 's female flight attendants and airport ground staff.

The new uniforms will be unveiled in the middle of next year, coinciding with the launch of Iberia 's new Business Plus class on intercontinental flights.

Adolfo Domínguez' designs were chosen from among eight proposals by four designers invited to bid for the Iberia contract to design new uniforms for Iberia flight crews and ground staff at airports and in ticket offices. Initially, Iberia invited eleven designers to submit bids. It short-listed five of them, and made its final choice among the four who submitted two proposals each.

Government of Canada Announces $459,217 Contract for RCMP Uniforms

MONTREAL , November 25, 2004 (Government Press Release) - A $459,217 competitive contract has been awarded to Les Vêtements Cooper Inc., of Montreal , Quebec , to manufacture and deliver blue uniform trousers to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). This contract will maintain 60 jobs and will be completed in June 2005.

The announcement was made today by the Honorable Pierre Pettigrew, Minister of Foreign Affairs and MP for Papineau, on behalf of the Honorable Scott Brison, Minister of Public Works and Government Services.

"This contract will help maintain a large number of jobs," said Minister Pettigrew. "It calls for the manufacture and supply of quality trousers to meet the RCMP's uniform needs. Providing government departments and staff with the tools they need to carry out their duties, however basic such tools might seem, ensures that the public will continue to get excellent service."

Under the terms of the contract, Les Vêtements Cooper Inc. will manufacture and supply 8,310 pairs of men's trousers and 1,080 pairs for women. The navy blue trousers are made of polyester/wool fabric and have a yellow polyester braid down the side seam. The pants will be delivered to the RCMP headquarters in Ottawa for distribution to detachments across the country.

Funding for this contract was provided for in the March 2004 Federal Budget. For information on contracting opportunities with the Government of Canada, visit www.merx.com, Canada 's official, public sector electronic tendering service.

Chinese-Made Uniforms Raise Stink in UK

London , November 22, 2004 (New Kerala Mail) - Britain 's Ministry of Defense (MOD) is facing flak after the surfacing of a report that claims that all Army combat uniforms are being made by Chinese factory women who earn a pound a day for their toil.

According to the Daily Mail, about 800 women aged 16 and above live inside the heavily guarded, environmentally-unfriendly factory complex, working round the clock in stitching up these uniforms.

There is no air-conditioning in the factory located near the city of Chongqing - known in Chinese as 'Furnace' because of the heat - and the women endure temperatures higher than 40C in summer.

Junior workers are paid a mere 32.50 pounds a month, while their senior colleagues workers get 39 pounds. None of them can afford the bus fare to the city and they are not entitled to use local hospitals. If they fall ill, they are asked to quit their jobs and return home to get state healthcare.

According to the report, MOD officials have taken this work away from established British firms and given it indirectly to the Chinese factory to save 23 million pounds.

The tailoring of the uniforms was outsourced to the Irish firm Cooneen Watts and Stone, which in turn has sub-contracted the work to China . The Irish firm is getting 50 million pounds for doing the job for the next five years.

Now, the MOD is investigating claims by Labor MP Gordon Prentice that the fabric rips easily, shrinks when wet and is too thin to prevent a soldier's body heat being picked up by enemy night- vision equipment.

Attempts to see the women at work by one of the paper's correspondents came to naught as the factory manager said that he would be severely punished if he took any one inside. (ANI)