Sir, - As a shop steward representing 650 workers here in Waterford, I would like to make one or two comments on Anne Byrne's article, "What's Hot, What's Not for Christmas", (The Irish Times, November 24th).
Ms Byrne makes a number of points about the costs of toys and games and the pressure this places on a parent or guardian. She also covers the issue of toy safety and points to the CE mark as a guide.
She correctly points out that the vast majority of toys and games are produced in China, a country where the rights and entitlements of workers are of little consequence to those in power. She reports that consumers' concerns about the conditions in which toys and games are produced can be expressed via the Toy Campaign which is run by the ICTU and Trocaire.
As someone who has campaigned on this issue and travelled to China to see the atrocious conditions in which people are forced to work, I would urge that this campaign be supported.
However, Ms Byrne compares the price of two products - Battleship and Connect4 - with two cheaper products and says it should be easy to persuade your offspring that the cheaper versions of board games are as good as the more expensive products. I would like to point out that these two games - and many more, such as Monopoly, Play-Doh and Mouse Trap - are produced here in Waterford, Ireland, by union labour. The products are of superior quality, are guaranteed Irish, and all carry the CE mark of product safety.
We may be producing only a small percentage of the world's toys and games, but we are producing a safe product in an equitable and fair manner. - Yours, etc., Yours in solidarity,
Terry Bryan, SIPTU Section Chairperson, Hasbro Ireland, Waterford.