***Female flight attendants for Qatar Airways must seek permission from airline before marrying
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A report released by the International Transport Workers’ Federation claims the airline requires female flight attendants to seek permission from the airline before getting married. (Reuters)
Qatar Airways is being criticized for claims that it requires its female workers to seek permission from the company when they decide to get married.
According to Al Arabia English, 
the International Transport Workers’ Federation released a report Tuesday to the Canadian-based International Civil Aviation Organization stating that the airline also mandates that women tell a supervisor if they become pregnant — and could face termination if they fail to do so.
the International Transport Workers’ Federation released a report Tuesday to the Canadian-based International Civil Aviation Organization stating that the airline also mandates that women tell a supervisor if they become pregnant — and could face termination if they fail to do so.According to the ITF, a standard hiring contract for the airline’s female workers reads: “You are required to obtain prior permission from the company, in case you wish to change your marital status and get married.
, a standard hiring contract for the airline’s female workers reads: “You are required to obtain prior permission from the company, in case you wish to change your marital status and get married.“The employee shall notify the employer in case of pregnancy from the date of her knowledge of its occurrence. The employer shall have the right to terminate the contract of employment from the date of notification of the pregnancy. Failure of employee to notify the employer or the concealment of the occurrence shall be considered a breach of contract.”
The report notes that many of the airline’s female employees are non-Qatari nationals and “rely on obtaining temporary work visas under a sponsorship programme.”
“We would expect that the airline will try to paint a picture of their operations and say [that the allegations] are essentially not the truth,” International Trade Union Confederation general secretary Sharan Burrow told Al Arabiya English on Wednesday.
FoxNews.com reached out to Qatar Airways on Wednesday and has not yet received comment.
FROM SEAFARER TIMES:
***International delegation takes protest direct to Swiss HQ
Submitted by Helmsman on Thu, 09/26/2013 – 11:24
International delegation takes protest direct to Swiss HQ
25 September 2013 receieved via email
25 September 2013 receieved via email
A high level trade union delegation from several countries will gather in the small Swiss town of Châtel-St-Denis tomorrow, 26 September, inorder to question the behaviour of a global company headquartered there. They are visiting Switzerland to press home demands that offshore pipeline installation and subsea construction company Allseas Group SA abides by its and Switzerland’s obligations under international conventions and recognises the union rights of those working for it.
The union leaders will gather from 10:30 at the Place du Grand-Clos, Châtel-St-Denis before moving on to the company’s headquarters (Route de Pra de Plan 18, 1618 Châtel-Saint-Denis) at 11:00. At 11:30 they will deliver a letter of protest to the office.
The letter, signed by ITF (International Transport Workers’ Federation) offshore taskforce group chair Norrie McVicar (who will be available for interview at tomorrow’s event), explains the unions’ case. It states:
As you will be aware, affiliates of the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) have been writing to your company for over 10 years seeking dialogue with you on the question of union representation for the respective members of our unions. Unfortunately, for the mariners employed by Allseas, the response to the ITF affiliates over the years has been negative.
We very much hope that following the formal adoption of the International Labour Organization(ILO) Maritime Labour Convention 2006 (MLC) on 20 August 2013 – which was developed at the ILO in Geneva and already ratified by countries accounting for 75 per cent of the world merchant fleet – the company will now reconsider its position.
We are sure you are aware that the MLC has been produced with the aim of becoming the ‘fourth pillar’ of global maritime regulation, alongside existing international conventions on safety at sea, marine pollution, and seafarer training and certification. It aims to promote decent living and working conditions in the shipping industry, and to prevent exploitation and unfair competition. It also upholds the principles of freedom of association and the rights to fair terms of employment.
We believe that the MLC, which is also known as the ‘Bill of Rights for Seafarers’, will deliver significant benefits to the international shipping industry and will also be a valuable tool in the area of on-board health and safety. It supports the creation of elected safety committee representatives, and the consequent process of dialogue and workforce involvement should contribute to improved safety processes, helping to reduce the risk of offshore disasters such as the Deepwater Horizon explosion in the USA.
There has been an unprecedented level of international support for the implementation of the MLC by governments, employers and trade unions. In the true spirit of tripartism, we urge Allseas (which is based in Switzerland, the home of the ILO) to review its values and join with us and the international maritime community to implement this new bill of rights for seafarers in its fullest form.
The delegation will be made up of representatives of international trade unions including: IndustriALL global union (headquartered in Switzerland); Nautilus International (from the UK, Netherlands and Switzerland); the UK’s RMT (The National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers); France’s CFDT; Belgium’s ACV-Transcom; Germany’s ver.di union; the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA); the Maritime Union of New Zealand (Munz); Norway’s Industri Energi; Indonesia’s KPI (Kesatuan Pelaut Indonesia) – among others. They will be assisted by the Swiss cantonal trade union organisation the USFR/FRGB (Union syndicale fribourgeoise/Freiburger Gewerkschaftsbund).
This event will be mirrored in India, where a demonstration will be held at the company’s offices in Mumbai, India, on the same day. In Perth, Australia, trade unionists from the MUA will deliver a letter of protest to the company office there, while in the USA, members of the SIU (Seafarers International Union) will be taking a letter to the company’s Houston office.
Meanwhile the Norwegian Seafarers’ Union will be organising a week of action examining offshore vessels working on the Norwegian continental shelf.
FROM ECOCLUB:
Created on Wednesday, 25 September 2013 15:21 | Written by ECOCLUB.com Team
London (24 September 2013) – ITF Press Release:The ITF (International Transport Workers’ Federation) will push ICAO (the International Civil Aviation Organization) in Canada today for action on flagrant abuses of aviation workers’ labour rights by airlines based in Qatar and the UAE.
The ITF will be at ICAO’s 38th General Assembly, taking place in Montreal from 24 September – 4 October, where it is proposing that ICAO and the ILO (International Labour Organization) must work together to address the problem. The ITF is already campaigning along with the ITUC (International Trade Union Confederation) for abuses to be remedied.
The ITF states that Emirates, Qatar Airways and Etihad Airways are among the fastest growing airlines in the world. They employ more than 70,000 pilots, cabin crew and ground staff between them. More than 90 percent of their employees are non-UAE/Qatari nationals – all of whom have to rely on obtaining temporary work visas under a sponsorship programme. Although these foreign workers are vital to the success of the airlines, they do not enjoy the basic labour rights (including freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining) which apply in their home countries and in virtually all the nations whose airlines compete with Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways.
According to the ITF the case of Qatar Airways is the worst. For example, a standard hiring contract for thousands of the airline’s female workers reads: You are required to obtain prior permission from the company, in case you wish to change your marital status and get married. And: The employee shall notify the employer in case of pregnancy from the date of her knowledge of its occurrence. The employer shall have the right to terminate the contract of employment from the date of notification of the pregnancy. Failure of employee to notify the employer or the concealment of the occurrence shall be considered a breach of contract.
ITF president Paddy Crumlin commented: “Earlier this year the ITF and ITUC spearheaded the successful resistance to Qatar’s bid to have ICAO moved to Doha*. The same democratic deficit that torpedoed that ridiculous bid is still in place in these airlines. At the time Qatar Airways’ CEO even went on record as saying: ‘If you did not have unions you wouldn’t have this jobless problem in the Western world’. The fact is that these companies are making a fortune from the efforts of hardworking staff who, undefended, can be discharged and deported on a whim.”
ITUC general secretary Sharan Burrow added: “Nations and companies cannot continue to turn a blind eye to abuses of workers in Qatar. International pressure is growing, from the ILO to the UN Special rapporteur on migrant rights the spotlight is on companies in Qatar to take responsibility for workers’ rights and follow global rules.”
This proposal is one of seven working papers the ITF will present during the ICAO assembly. Among the other papers to be presented are the need for the removal of national obstacles to the collection of safety-related information by airline staff; air pollution at airports; and cabin air quality and its impact on cabin crew.
FROM HELLENIC SHIPPING NEWS, ALSO ALL ABOUT SHIPPING, ALSO AFRICAN OIL AND GAS NEWS:
***International delegation takes protest direct to Swiss HQ
ITF, Labour Disputes — By admin on September 25, 2013 at 2:51 PM
The ITF HQ’s in London
25 September 2013 – A high level trade union delegation from several countries will gather in the small Swiss town of Châtel-St-Denis tomorrow, 26 September, in order to question the behaviour of a global company headquartered there. They are visiting Switzerland to press home demands that offshore pipeline installation and subsea construction company Allseas Group SA abides by its and Switzerland’s obligations under international conventions and recognises the union rights of those working for it.
The union leaders will gather from 10:30 at the Place du Grand-Clos, Châtel-St-Denis before moving on to the company’s headquarters (Route de Pra de Plan 18, 1618 Châtel-Saint-Denis) at 11:00. At 11:30 they will deliver a letter of protest to the office.
The letter, signed by ITF (International Transport Workers’ Federation) offshore taskforce group chair Norrie McVicar (who will be available for interview at tomorrow’s event), explains the unions’ case. It states:
As you will be aware, affiliates of the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) have been writing to your company for over 10 years seeking dialogue with you on the question of union representation for the respective members of our unions. Unfortunately, for the mariners employed by Allseas, the response to the ITF affiliates over the years has been negative.
We very much hope that following the formal adoption of the International Labour Organization (ILO) Maritime Labour Convention 2006 (MLC) on 20 August 2013 – which was developed at the ILO in Geneva and already ratified by countries accounting for 75 per cent of the world merchant fleet – the company will now reconsider its position.
We are sure you are aware that the MLC has been produced with the aim of becoming the ‘fourth pillar’ of global maritime regulation, alongside existing international conventions on safety at sea, marine pollution, and seafarer training and certification. It aims to promote decent living and working conditions in the shipping industry, and to prevent exploitation and unfair competition. It also upholds the principles of freedom of association and the rights to fair terms of employment.
We believe that the MLC, which is also known as the ‘Bill of Rights for Seafarers’, will deliver significant benefits to the international shipping industry and will also be a valuable tool in the area of on-board health and safety. It supports the creation of elected safety committee representatives, and the consequent process of dialogue and workforce involvement should contribute to improved safety processes, helping to reduce the risk of offshore disasters such as the Deepwater Horizon explosion in the USA.
There has been an unprecedented level of international support for the implementation of the MLC by governments, employers and trade unions. In the true spirit of tripartism, we urge Allseas (which is based in Switzerland, the home of the ILO) to review its values and join with us and the international maritime community to implement this new bill of rights for seafarers in its fullest form.
The delegation will be made up of representatives of international trade unions including: IndustriALL global union (headquartered in Switzerland); Nautilus International (from the UK, Netherlands and Switzerland); the UK’s RMT (The National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers); France’s CFDT; Belgium’s ACV-Transcom; Germany’s ver.di union; the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA); the Maritime Union of New Zealand (Munz); Norway’s Industri Energi; Indonesia’s KPI (Kesatuan Pelaut Indonesia) – among others. They will be assisted by the Swiss cantonal trade union organisation the USFR/FRGB (Union syndicale fribourgeoise/Freiburger Gewerkschaftsbund).
This event will be mirrored in India, where a demonstration will be held at the company’s offices in Mumbai, India, on the same day. In Perth, Australia, trade unionists from the MUA will deliver a letter of protest to the company office there, while in the USA, members of the SIU (Seafarers International Union) will be taking a letter to the company’s Houston office.
Meanwhile the Norwegian Seafarers’ Union will be organising a week of action examining offshore vessels working on the Norwegian continental shelf.
For more about the campaign for union rights at Allseas see:www.unionsatallseas.org
FROM THE MUA:
BIS Shrapnel Report Exposes Lies Of Resource Sector Reps: Coalition Government Urged To Deliver New Era Of Economic Honesty
BIS Shrapnel research, released today, has discredited the report used by the Australian Mines and Metals Association to argue that wage growth is threatening the viability of the offshore oil and gas sector, saying it had “misrepresented, misinterpreted, or completely omitted relevant information to reach its conclusions.”
| Click here to download the report summary. |
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The AMMA-commissioned Deloitte Access Economics report, released last month, claimed increasing labour and operating costs were having a significant impact on the international competitiveness of the industry, which in turn was being used to argue against a 6 per cent pay rise for workers in the sector.
The Maritime Union of Australia said the flawed research highlights the need for the incoming Abbott Government to ensure truthfulness from management and industry groups representing the resource sector, given its critical importance to the nation’s economy.
“Shareholders, workers, decision makers and the community deserve an end to the deception, blame shifting and dishonesty being used by some in the resource sector to argue against Australian workers receiving their fair share of the benefits of these major projects,” MUA national secretary Paddy Crumlin said.
“This sector of the economy is too important to our nation’s future to be driven by misinformation, which is why we are calling on the Abbott Government to stand up to the industry groups, tell them to end the blame shifting, and demanding a new era of honesty in industrial relations negotiations.”
“Implications of Wage Costs on the Offshore Oil and Gas Marine Support Sector”, produced by BIS Shrapnel and commissioned by the MUA, debunked the DAE report thorough analysis of publicly released data, including annual reports and official financial statements of companies in the sector, finding:
‣ between 2007 and 2012 companies engaged in the sector actually enjoyed revenue growth of over 200 per cent, according to their annual reports and official financial statements, with EBITDA averaging 13.2 per cent compound annual growth rate;
‣ wages grew by just 32 per cent over the same period; [*please see correction footnote below]
‣ wage growth for integrated rating workers (those carrying out berthing and un-berthing, securing cargo, maintenance and other general duties) had lagged behind construction and mining wage index growth over the period 2005 to 2013;
‣ claims that cooks working in the sector are paid $230,000 per year were highly exaggerated, by up to 40 per cent;
‣ the integrated rating wage cost for the $52 billion Gorgon project is approximately 0.25% of the total project cost, meaning wage growth is unlikely to present any material threat to viability;
‣ the DAE report had failed to meet accepted standards of survey methodology, relying on a survey of just 5 out of 19 vessel operators, all of whom were AMMA members; and
‣ the competitive gap between Australian-sourced LNG projects and international competitors would be essentially eliminated over the next five years, as the Australian dollar is predicted to drop to approximately $US0.80.
Mr Crumlin said the detailed independent research had exposed as a myth claims that wages growth is leading to the Australian resource sector becoming uncompetitive.
“It’s time the industry moved away from this subjective, survey-driven, deeply-flawed research commissioned by the AMMA, and instead looked at the facts on the public record to examine the real situation facing our sector,” Mr Crumlin said.
“While there are some in the industry actively trying to talk down Australian projects, claiming we are uncompetitive and work will be lost to Canada and African nations, the facts clearly show employers in the sector have enjoyed five years of double-digit profit growth.
“When the AMMA released the DAE report last month, CEO Steve Knott said it was critical to ‘build a factual basis’ for discussion around the economic conditions in Australia’s offshore oil and gas marine support sector.
“The MUA couldn’t agree more, but to allow for an intelligent debate between the two sides it requires the mouthpiece of the oil and gas sector to stick to the truth, which the BIS Shrapnel has clearly demonstrated that they have not been.”
The union highlighted the situation facing Chevron’s $52 billion Gorgon project, which has been beset with cost blowouts, with the report finding the 6 per cent wage increase sought in the current round of bargaining throughout the industry would be a tiny factor in costs.
“On the Gorgon project the wage cost for the 2,500 workers in oil and gas marine support sector — even using the AMMA’s inflated wage figures — is just $575 million, with the 6 per cent wage increase adding just $15 million to that this year,” Mr Crumlin said.
“Chevron reported a $26.8 billion profit in 2012, making it one of the world’s most profitable companies, yet the AMMA is attempting to claim that a wage rise that accounts for 0.03 per cent of a project’s cost is somehow unaffordable.
“The reality is that the wages of hard-working MUA members are not driving the rise in costs in the oil and gas sector, and are certainly not to blame for the staggering cost blow-out of the Gorgon project.
“Our union does not shy away from a genuine debate about rising costs in the resource sector, but to do that it is essential the fundamental problems caused by mismanagement, poor decision-making and other non-wage factors are examined.
“The AMMA and other industry groups are doing a great disservice to Australia and the offshore oil and gas industry by continuing to drive this disinformation campaign.”
* An error in editing was identified in the final version of the report, which carried over to the original press release. On Page 11, of the originally released report, in the bullet point regarding the DAE claim that wage growth is outpacing revenue growth in the marine vessel sector, the differential BIS identified was stated as 50% wage growth compared to 200% revenue growth. The 50% figure should have been 32%. This clearly strengthens the argument made by BIS Shrapnel supporting the MUA’s position regarding revenue growth far outpacing wage growth. The final report and this version of the press release have been corrected to reflect the accurate information.
FROM THE RMT:
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FROM THE GUARDIAN:
Revealed: Qatar’s World Cup ‘slaves’
Exclusive: Abuse and exploitation of migrant workers preparing emirate for 2022
The Nepalese workers in Qatar who don’t make it home alive
Analysis: Qatar 2022 puts Fifa’s reputation on the line
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Pete Pattisson in Kathmandu and Doha
- The Guardian, Wednesday 25 September 2013 17.46 BST
- Jump to comments (1267)
Link to video: Qatar: the migrant workers forced to work for no pay in World Cup host country
Dozens of Nepalese migrant labourers have died in Qatar in recent weeks and thousands more are enduring appalling labour abuses, a Guardian investigation has found, raising serious questions about Qatar’s preparations to host the 2022 World Cup.
This summer, Nepalese workers died at a rate of almost one a day in Qatar, many of them young men who had sudden heart attacks. The investigation found evidence to suggest that thousands of Nepalese, who make up the single largest group of labourers in Qatar, face exploitation and abuses that amount to modern-day slavery, as defined by the International Labour Organisation, during a building binge paving the way for 2022.
According to documents obtained from the Nepalese embassy in Doha, at least 44 workers died between 4 June and 8 August. More than half died of heart attacks, heart failure or workplace accidents.
The investigation also reveals:
• Evidence of forced labour on a huge World Cup infrastructure project.
• Some Nepalese men have alleged that they have not been paid for months and have had their salaries retained to stop them running away.
• Some workers on other sites say employers routinely confiscate passports and refuse to issue ID cards, in effect reducing them to the status of illegal aliens.
• Some labourers say they have been denied access to free drinking water in the desert heat.
• About 30 Nepalese sought refuge at their embassy in Doha to escape the brutal conditions of their employment.
The allegations suggest a chain of exploitation leading from poor Nepalese villages to Qatari leaders. The overall picture is of one of the richest nations exploiting one of the poorest to get ready for the world’s most popular sporting tournament.
“We’d like to leave, but the company won’t let us,” said one Nepalese migrant employed at Lusail City development, a $45bn (£28bn) city being built from scratch which will include the 90,000-seater stadium that will host the World Cup final. “I’m angry about how this company is treating us, but we’re helpless. I regret coming here, but what to do? We were compelled to come just to make a living, but we’ve had no luck.”
The body tasked with organising the World Cup, the Qatar 2022 Supreme Committee, told the Guardian that work had yet to begin on projects directly related to the World Cup. However, it said it was “deeply concerned with the allegations that have been made against certain contractors/sub-contractors working on Lusail City’s construction site and considers this issue to be of the utmost seriousness”. It added: “We have been informed that the relevant government authorities are conducting an investigation into the allegations.”
The Guardian’s investigation also found men throughout the wider Qatari construction industry sleeping 12 to a room in places and getting sick through repulsive conditions in filthy hostels. Some say they have been forced to work without pay and left begging for food.
“We were working on an empty stomach for 24 hours; 12 hours’ work and then no food all night,” said Ram Kumar Mahara, 27. “When I complained, my manager assaulted me, kicked me out of the labour camp I lived in and refused to pay me anything. I had to beg for food from other workers.”
Almost all migrant workers have huge debts from Nepal, accrued in order to pay recruitment agents for their jobs. The obligation to repay these debts, combined with the non-payment of wages, confiscation of documents and inability of workers to leave their place of work, constitute forced labour, a form of modern-day slavery estimated to affect up to 21 million people across the globe. So entrenched is this exploitation that the Nepalese ambassador to Qatar, Maya Kumari Sharma, recently described the emirate as an “open jail”.
Record of deaths in July 2013, from all causes, held by the Nepalese embassy in Doha. Photograph: /guardian.co.uk
“The evidence uncovered by the Guardian is clear proof of the use of systematic forced labour in Qatar,” said Aidan McQuade, director of Anti-Slavery International, which was founded in 1839. “In fact, these working conditions and the astonishing number of deaths of vulnerable workers go beyond forced labour to the slavery of old where human beings were treated as objects. There is no longer a risk that the World Cup might be built on forced labour. It is already happening.”
Qatar has the highest ratio of migrant workers to domestic population in the world: more than 90% of the workforce are immigrants and the country is expected to recruit up to 1.5 million more labourers to build the stadiums, roads, ports and hotels needed for the tournament. Nepalese account for about 40% of migrant labourers in Qatar. More than 100,000 Nepalese left for the emirate last year.
The murky system of recruitment brokers in Asia and labour contractors in Qatar leaves them vulnerable to exploitation. The supreme committee has insisted that decent labour standards will be set for all World Cup contracts, but underneath it a complex web of project managers, construction firms and labour suppliers, employment contractors and recruitment agents operate.
According to some estimates, Qatar will spend $100bn on infrastructure projects to support the World Cup. As well as nine state-of-the-art stadiums, the country has committed to $20bn worth of new roads, $4bn for a causeway connecting Qatar to Bahrain, $24bn for a high-speed rail network, and 55,000 hotel rooms to accommodate visiting fans and has almost completed a new airport.
The World Cup is part of an even bigger programme of construction in Qatar designed to remake the tiny desert kingdom over the next two decades. Qatar has yet to start building stadiums for 2022, but has embarked on the big infrastructure projects likesuch as Lusail City that, according to the US project managers, Parsons, “will play a major role during the 2022 Fifa World Cup”. The British engineering company Halcrow, part of the CH2M Hill group, is a lead consultant on the Lusail project responsible for “infrastructure design and construction supervision”. CH2M Hill was recently appointed the official programme management consultant to the supreme committee. It says it has a “zero tolerance policy for the use of forced labour and other human trafficking practices”.
Halcrow said: “Our supervision role of specific construction packages ensures adherence to site contract regulation for health, safety and environment. The terms of employment of a contractor’s labour force is not under our direct purview.”
Some Nepalese working at Lusail City tell desperate stories. They are saddled with huge debts they are paying back at interest rates of up to 36%, yet say they are forced to work without pay.
“The company has kept two months’ salary from each of us to stop us running away,” said one man who gave his name as SBD and who works at the Lusail City marina. SBD said he was employed by a subcontractor that supplies labourers for the project. Some workers say their subcontrator has confiscated their passports and refused to issue the ID cards they are entitled to under Qatari law. “Our manager always promises he’ll issue [our cards] ‘next week’,” added a scaffolder who said he had worked in Qatar for two years without being given an ID card.
Without official documentation, migrant workers are in effect reduced to the status of illegal aliens, often unable to leave their place of work without fear of arrest and not entitled to any legal protection. Under the state-run kafala sponsorship system, workers are also unable to change jobs or leave the country without their sponsor company’s permission.
A third worker, who was equally reluctant to give his name for fear of reprisal, added: “We’d like to leave, but the company won’t let us. If we run away, we become illegal and that makes it hard to find another job. The police could catch us at any time and send us back home. We can’t get a resident permit if we leave.”
Other workers said they were forced to work long hours in temperatures of up to 50C (122F) without access to drinking water.
Dalli Kahtri and her husband, Lil Man, hold photos of their sons, both of whom died while working as migrants in Malaysia and Qatar. Their younger son (foreground photo) died in Qatar from a heart attack, aged 20. Photograph: Peter Pattison/guardian.co.uk
The Qatari labour ministry said it had strict rules governing working in the heat, the provision of labour and the prompt payment of salaries.
“The ministry enforces this law through periodic inspections to ensure that workers have in fact received their wages in time. If a company does not comply with the law, the ministry applies penalties and refers the case to the judicial authorities.”
Lusail Real Estate Company said: “Lusail City will not tolerate breaches of labour or health and safety law. We continually instruct our contractors and their subcontractors of our expectations and their contractual obligations to both us and individual employees. The Guardian have highlighted potentially illegal activities employed by one subcontractor. We take these allegations very seriously and have referred the allegations to the appropriate authorities for investigation. Based on this investigation, we will take appropriate action against any individual or company who has found to have broken the law or contract with us.”
The workers’ plight makes a mockery of concerns for the 2022 footballers.
“Everyone is talking about the effect of Qatar’s extreme heat on a few hundred footballers,” said Umesh Upadhyaya, general secretary of the General Federation of Nepalese Trade Unions. “But they are ignoring the hardships, blood and sweat of thousands of migrant workers, who will be building the World Cup stadiums in shifts that can last eight times the length of a football match.”