2015 ITUC Global Rights Index - Qatar

2015 ITUC Global Rights Index Rating: 5

Around 100 striking migrant workers arrested:

Around 800 construction workers employed by two subcontracting companies – Qatar Freelance Trading and Contracting as well as Qatar Middle East Co. – went on strike in November 2014 in protest against breaches of employment contracts and against poverty wages. The workers had signed contracts before leaving their home countries for Qatar; on arrival in Doha their passports were confiscated and contracts torn up. They were then forced to work for wages one-third lower than promised. Witnesses have reported that a supervisor attacked workers with a plastic pipe when police arrived to start the arrests, and those arrested are believed to be heading for the notorious Doha Detention Centre where migrant workers are often held incommunicado for long periods before eventual deportation.

Exclusion of migrant workers:

Today, migrant workers comprise roughly 94% of Qatar's workforce, equal to about 1.2 million workers. That figure continues to rise, as workers are recruited in vast numbers, largely from South Asia, to build infrastructure and stadia for the 2022 World Cup. Like many other migrant workers in the Gulf region, they face severe, discriminatory policies and practices that violate their fundamental human and labour rights, including the right to freedom of association. Even Qatari nationals have only limited rights in this regard. Numerous workers are precluded from forming or joining a union due to categorical exclusions in law. In practice, 90% of the total workforce is excluded from the right to form or join a union.

The ITUC Global Rights Index Ratings:

1 // Irregular violation of rights
Collective labour rights are generally guaranteed. Workers can freely associate and defend their rights collectively with the government and/or companies and can improve their working conditions through collective bargaining. Violations against workers are not absent but do not occur on a regular basis.

2 // Repeated violation of rights
Countries with a rating of 2 have slightly weaker collective labour rights than those with the rating 1. Certain rights have come under repeated attacks by governments and/or companies and have undermined the struggle for better working conditions.

3 // Regular violation of rights
Governments and/or companies are regularly interfering in collective labour rights or are failing to fully guarantee important aspects of these rights. There are deficiencies in laws and/or certain practices which make frequent violations possible.

4 // Systematic violation of rights
Workers in countries with the rating 4 have reported systematic violations. The government and/or companies are engaged in serious efforts to crush the collective voice of workers putting fundamental rights under threat.

5 // No guarantee of rights
Countries with the rating of 5 are the worst countries in the world to work in. While the legislation may spell out certain rights workers have effectively no access to these rights and are therefore exposed to autocratic regimes and unfair labour practices.

5+ // No guarantee of rights due to the breakdown of the rule of law
Workers in countries with the rating 5+ have equally limited rights as countries with the rating 5. However, in countries with the rating 5+ this is linked to dysfunctional institutions as a result of internal conflict and/or military occupation. In such cases, the country is assigned the rating of 5+ by default.