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Scorching heat:
physically demanding work at 40 to 50 degrees - for hundreds of thousands of migrant workers this was and is everyday life in Qatar.
Thousands of workers are said to have died in accidents between 2010 and 2020.
The numbers are disputed.
And since then a lot has changed for the better.
Photo: imago stock&people
When he answers the phone,
Dietmar Schäfers is there
(67) just back in Qatar.
In the background there is a babble of voices from migrant workers, for whose rights the trade unionist has been campaigning for years.
It is his third trip to World Cup country this year, which has around 900,000 migrant workers in construction alone.
At least on the World Cup construction sites, a lot has improved for the workers, says the deputy director of the international construction trade union and long-standing board member of the German IG Bau.
He advocates a more differentiated approach than is often seen in Germany.
A few days later, he took the time for an extensive interview via Teams: With a deep voice and a smoldering cigarette in his hand, he made clear announcements to companies and politicians.
But the man can also do diplomacy and says
manager magazin: Mr. Schäfers, as an internationally active trade unionist, you visited the World Cup host Qatar for the first time in 2013 and spoke of "modern slavery" with regard to the living and working conditions of the workers there. They called for a boycott of the World Cup. Not any longer longer. Why?
Dietmar Schäfers:
In 2013 we did indeed find a precarious situation: up to 12 workers crammed into a small room, poor food supply, poor hygienic conditions, virtually no occupational safety and health protection.
We communicated this publicly at the time, our campaign was called
"Red Card for FIFA – No World Cup without Workers Rights"
.
The government in Doha didn't like that at all.
The Ministry of Labor and the Supreme Committee (SC), which is responsible for all construction and infrastructure projects at the World Cup, summarily invited us out.
What changed your mind?
We continued to seek dialogue with the SC.
In 2016 we reached an agreement that allowed us as a trade union organization to officially travel the country, subsequently inspect World Cup construction sites and establish contact with migrant workers.
We have learned that we can achieve more with cooperation and diplomacy in the autocratic state.
And a lot has changed for the better on the World Cup construction sites.
Reports circulate dire numbers of accidents and fatalities on the World Cup construction sites in Qatar. According to the Guardian, there were at least 6,000 deaths between 2010 and 2020. The figures are not without controversy, how do you assess that?
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