For some the World Sports events such as the World Cup are a first class opportunity for profits and advertisement. For the workers who build the infrastructures for the events it is “high-exploitation season”, low salaries, criminal lack of safety measures and death.
The working and living conditions of the workers from Nepal, Bangladesh and other countries who temporarily migrate to Qatar to work in the preparation of the World Cup of 2022 are dramatic similar to bonded labour.
Extreme working hours over 12 per day, low salaries that are delivered with delay, hard work under extremely hot temperatures without breaks or water supply, poor and unhealthy accommodation, terrorism towards the workers by employers and authorities, fatal occupational hazards draw the picture of the working life of the thousands of hundreds of migrant workers who leave their villages seeking for better wages.
The World Federation of Trade Unions is denouncing the monarchy and the government of Qatar, the local and multinational corporations that exploit the workers to increase their profitability and reach the FIFA expectations in a short period of time. This is the same monarchy that has washed its hands in the blood of the Syrian people by sending missionaries to kill innocent people.
The WFTU stands on the side of the migrant workers to support their struggle for their own interests and without any ulterior motive surrounding the competition amongst states and multinationals on who will take the responsibility of organizing the sport events bearing in mind the millions of profits that these events are expected to generate for the corporations.
The WFTU stands on the side of the migrant workers, in solidarity with their struggles and will continue to organize initiatives for the rights of labour migrants in the period to come. The organizing in the ground by the workers themselves is the only effective recipe for them to draw strength, solidarity, protection and fight in class-unity for their demands against the employers.
