The theme of this year’s International Workers’ Memorial Day is ‘protecting workers around the world through strong regulation, enforcement and union rights’, and so it seems particularly appropriate today to revisit the topic I wrote on for Progress last month: the plight of migrant workers in Qatar ahead of the 2022 World Cup.
Migrant workers are drawn to Qatar predominantly from India, Pakistan and Nepal with the hope of earning enough to look after their families back home. The reality they face in Qatar is shameful – hundreds of workers have died since preparations for the World Cup began, and many thousands more live in appalling conditions, often paid less than they were promised and not allowed to return to their families.
The work needed for Qatar to be ready to host the World Cup in 2022 is substantial: an entire city supposed to hold some of the final matches, Lusail, does not even exist yet. As migrant workers make up 94 per cent of the current total workforce, it is clear that it is they who will make the tournament possible, and if drastic changes are not made it is they who will continue to suffer. The International Trade Union Confederation stands by its prediction that 4,000 workers will die given current conditions before a single game is played.
Since I last wrote for Progress there has been a substantial increase in the media focus on migrant workers in Qatar. Working together with the unions the Labour party has, as you would expect, led the way in highlighting the desperate need for basic union rights for the workers, which they are denied by the kafala (sponsorship) system. Jim Murphy visited Qatar with the ITUC and he has verified at first hand the ‘dirty secret of the beautiful game’, while Chris Williamson and Stephen Hepburn joined a Union of Construction, Allied Trades and Technicians delegation to collect further evidence and demand action from FIFA. My early day motion calling for strong and immediate action from FIFA, the government and Qatar now has the cross-party support of 31 MPs.
This morning representatives from several trade unions protested outside the Qatari embassy in London, and repeated calls for FIFA to hold the World Cup elsewhere if swift improvements are not made. A host of other people have called for the bidding process to be re-run for various other reasons, including further FIFA bribe revelations and allegations, and practical concerns regarding the heat.
I understand these positions, but I stand by my approach that for now at least we should continue to attempt to engage with Qatar. The 2022 World Cup is our chance to work with Qatar: to offer our expertise not only of delivering a top international sporting event safely and successfully, but also to share our experience of the importance of the Labour movement and trade unionism. As a football fan and trade unionist, I would consider it a failure if Qatar simply lost the right to host the World Cup, with the main opportunity for crucial improvements for its migrant worker population lost. This Workers’ Memorial Day is a chance for us to consider how much British workers have gained thanks to the Labour party and the trade union movement, and redouble our efforts to help workers around the world make these same gains.
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John Mann is member of parliament for Bassetlaw
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Photo: Sean Knoflick