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6. ALLOW TRADE UNIONS
Migrant workers are still unable to form and join trade unions in Qatar, and Joint Committees formed and led by employers, cover only 2% of the workforce. While providing workers with some representation, these remain beset with serious flaws, lacking mechanisms for collective bargaining and failing to provide workers with crucial legal protections. The government must respect its international obligations and allow migrant workers to form and join independent trade unions.
Construction workers in Doha, Qatar, 30 December 2015. (Photo by Warren Little/Getty Images). © 2016 Getty Images.
The right to form and join trade unions in Qatar remains reserved for the country’s nationals,103 but in 2019, the Ministry of Labour, with the support of the ILO, launched an initiative to create joint migrant workermanagement committees.104 Since then, according to the ILO, 228 workers have been elected directly to represent nearly 40,000 workers in 37 companies in the transportation, construction, private security and hospitality sectors.105 This initiative is a baby step forward but falls far short of the fundamental right of all workers to form and join trade unions as guaranteed by international treaties ratified, albeit with reservations, by Qatar.106 Workers cannot set up the worker-management committees without the prior approval of employers. As a result, this initiative is extremely limited in scope, covering less than 2% of Qatar’s workforce and excluding domestic workers.
103 According to Article 116 of the Labour Law No. 14 of 2014, https://almeezan.qa/LawView.aspx?opt&LawID=3961&language=ar Workers’ Committees can be formed in business establishments that employ at least 100 Qatari nationals. Workers’ Committees from the same industry may form General Committees, which in turn can become the General Union. 104 ILO, Annual progress report, 2019 (previously cited), p. 7. 105 ILO, Overview of Qatar’s Labour Reforms (previously cited). 106 Amnesty International, Qatar finally joins two key human rights treaties – but what does it really mean for migrant workers?, 13 June 2018, https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2018/06/qatar-finally-joins-two-key-humanrights-treaties-but-what-does-it-really-meanformigrant-workers/
UNFINISHED BUSINESS:
WHAT QATAR MUST DO TO FULFILL PROMISES ON MIGRANT WORKERS’ RIGHTS Amnesty International
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Moreover, the Joint Committees do not function like labour unions and workers are denied collective bargaining and the crucial protections offered by independent trade unions. One representative of a workers' rights organization told Amnesty International,
“Qatar’s Joint Committees act more like mechanisms to gather and deliver workers’ complaints to employers. Workers’ representatives… do not have the right to negotiate on issues such as employment contracts and wages. Crucially, without legal protection for worker representatives, they could be at risk of retaliation for advocating for workers’ rights.”107
AGENDA FOR ACTION
QATAR MUST:
• Withdraw its reservations to international treaties regarding the formation of labour unions; • Respect the right of migrant workers to form and join trade unions that can collectively bargain on behalf of their members; and • In the interim, make Joint Committees mandatory for all companies and ensure no employer can oppose their establishment.
107 Interview conducted remotely, 3 November 2021.
UNFINISHED BUSINESS:
WHAT QATAR MUST DO TO FULFILL PROMISES ON MIGRANT WORKERS’ RIGHTS Amnesty International
