Barcelona Football Club: ITUC Appeals to Voting Members and Fans to Reject Qatar Airways Deal (ituc-csi.org)

The ITUC has called on FC Barcelona “socis” (voting members) and fans to end the club’s Qatar Airways sponsorship, saying that the airline is the very worst sponsor for a club with a 100-year tradition of democracy and universality. The appeal comes as an election contest for the club’s Presidency hinges on candidates’ opposition to […]


July 3, 2015

Prosecute Qatar Airways over pregnancy sackings, TWU demands (TWU.com.au)

The Transport Workers’ Union is demanding that the Government prosecute Qatar Airways for discriminating against women workers, including allowing for them to be sacked if they become pregnant. The airline should be banned from entering Australia unless it abides by anti-discrimination laws, the union added. The call comes after the International Labour Organisation found the […]


June 19, 2015

ILO finds Qatar guilty

Geneva-based United Nations agency the ILO (International Labour Organization) today found Qatar guilty of allowing its state-owned airline, Qatar Airways, to violate international and national agreements and institutionalise discrimination. The case was successfully brought against Qatar by the ITF (International Transport Workers’ Federation) and the ITUC (International Trade Union Confederation) (see http://goo.gl/Ka5inH.) In a dramatic […]


June 16, 2015

Qatar Airways Cup: global union spotlights aviation workers’ plight

The International Transport Workers’ Federation – a global union body representing millions of transport workers worldwide – is joining the Scottish Football Supporters Association and PlayFairQatar in calling on Scotland fans to support migrant workers who are building Qatar’s 2022 World Cup in advance of Scotland’s friendly with the Gulf state on June 5th. The […]


June 4, 2015

Send them a message to FIFA

Dear Sisters and Brothers, FIFA is in crisis. Nine officials have been arrested and charged with corruption. The Zurich headquarters has been raided, with documents seized in connection with the Qatar World Cup. Despite all this, all indications are that the FIFA World Congress will vote today for more of the same — to re-elect […]


May 29, 2015

The Hypocrisy World Cup? FIFA sponsors must tell Qatar to play fair on workers’ human rights

62 workers may lose their lives for each game played during Qatar’s 2022 World Cup, a tournament likely to be sponsored by FIFA partner companies Coke, VISA, McDonald’s, Adidas, Kia and Hyundai. Without sponsorship, this multi-billion dollar tournament couldn’t take place. Most sponsors commit themselves to respecting the UN Declaration of Human Rights – which […]


May 26, 2015

Barca FC’s Qatar Airways rethink ‘another nail in coffin’ of airline’s reputation

The ITF (International Transport Workers’ Federation) today congratulated Barcelona football club for considering dropping its lucrative sponsorship deal with Qatar Airways, over what club president Josep Maria Bartomeu described as “social issues”. The ITF has publicly and repeatedly challenged the airline’s dictatorial treatment of its workers, and is part of the union Rerun the Vote […]


January 29, 2015

Qatar country with fourth highest rate of slavery: NGO (english.al-akhbar.com)

Qatar was ranked fourth in a global ranking of countries where slavery is most prevalent, a rights group said on Monday. The Walk Free Foundation, an Australian-based human rights group, estimated in its global index that almost 36 million people are living as slaves across the globe, and listed Mauritania, Uzbekistan, Haiti, Qatar and India […]


November 20, 2014