The spring of 2016 has started with brutal violations of the rights of workers building for the FIFA World Cup 2018 in Russia. In the beginning of March construction workers at the site of the 2018 World Cup stadium “Luzhniki” stopped their work due to unpaid wages and absence of employments contracts.
Also at the construction of the World Cup Stadium in Nizhniy Novgorod 250 workers from Uzbekistan and Tajikistan have reported to mass media that they did not see their wages for two months. Since the beginning of March stopped their work to get wages back. The workers are employed by a Turkish subcontracting company which blames the main contractor for not making necessary financial transfers for the workers’ wages. The main contractor denies all accusations, claiming that all necessary financial transfers were made on time.
Two cases of wage arrears on the 2018 World Cup stadiums, fatal accidents at the construction of the stadium in St-Petersburg and occupational health and safety accident on the stadium in Volgograd has led to a huge mistrust among workers against the organization behind the World Cup.
“We are very concerned with the latest turn of events in Russia. We believe that FIFA needs to engage constructively and proactively with all stakeholders including trade unions involved in the preparations need to work together to ensure that labour rights are protected in the projects related to the 2018 World Cup. Special attention needs to be given to make sure that workers are paid on time, work under decent conditions and have employment contracts,” stated Ambet Yuson, General Secretary of BWI.