UNISON is backing the TUC Play Fair Qatar campaign calling for the 2022 World Cup hosts to respect the rights of migrant construction workers – who are dying at a rate of around 40 a month.
Or at least that’s the estimate from the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), which has exposed numerous violations of the rights of the more than one million migrant workers.
The Qatar government disputes the figure, saying that heart attacks cannot be classified as industrial accidents. Many of the young Nepalese and Indian workers suffer cardiac arrests and campaigners says this most likely because they are working long hours in temperatures of more than 40oC.
Since being awarded the 2022 World Cup in 2010, Qatar has launched an unprecedented construction programme including building a new city to accommodate the final of the World Cup.
The ITUC figures would mean around 4,000 people dying before the World Cup starts.
The TUC campaign is encouraging football fans to get involved involved in highlighting the violation of workers’ rights in the building trade.
You can take a selfie wearing your club colours and upload it to the Play Fair Qatar website. Encourage colleagues, friends and family to also get involved.
There is also evidence that contracted workers including porters, admin workers, cleaners, gardeners, etc, providing support services to universities in Doha are subject to abuses.
These workers are employed at University College London’s (UCL) Doha campus.
A public meeting is planned at UCL in November as other UK institutions may locate there.
For details email UNISON’s international relations team at I.Relations@unison.co.uk