salary dispute
Hundreds of WM workers fear expulsion from Qatar
01/26/2023 11:27 am
During the World Cup in Qatar, thousands of guest workers are employed by security companies, among other things they secure the FIFA media center. After the end of the tournament, a company suddenly terminates the contracts. The workers protest. Now they are supposed to be expelled.
In Qatar, around 400 security workers are apparently threatened with expulsion. The British reports “telegraph“. According to this, the guest workers were primarily used in the FIFA media center during the 2022 World Cup. After the end of the tournament, a dispute broke out between the workers and the security company Stark Security after the security company had terminated the existing contracts prematurely. After These layoffs led to mass protests in Doha with up to 1,000 participants, who occupied Stark Security’s headquarters.
The company is said not to have paid contractually agreed salaries and bonuses, there is talk of three monthly wages. In addition, the workers are said to have been denied access to the sleeping quarters provided up to that point. The dismissed became homeless in the course of the termination, which is why they gained access to the company headquarters.
Stark Security had asked the security staff to sign an early termination of the six-month contract and to sign new contracts that would only have allowed them to leave Qatar after “two years of continuous employment”, according to the Telegraph. The workers were apparently to receive 1,700 Qatari riyals, the equivalent of around 428 euros, as a severance payment – and sign that all claims were settled. The average monthly salary for security staff in Qatar is around 2,700 Qatari riyals, i.e. around 680 euros.
The workers, who are mostly from Southeast Asia, Africa and the Middle East, are demanding payment of outstanding wages and bonuses. A joint lawsuit before the Supreme Court in Qatar is said to have been dismissed.
The police arrested numerous protesters. According to eyewitnesses, the workers were taken back to their shelters to collect their belongings before being deported. In the meantime, around 100 demonstrators are said to be still in the Stark Security headquarters. According to the “Telegraph”, any inquiries to Stark Security and the organizing committee of the World Cup in this regard remained unanswered.