The Building and Wood Workers’ International (BWI) will sign an agreement with two partners: QDVC, a Qatari joint venture with Qatari Diar Real Estate Investments Company and VINCI Construction Grands projects, and VINCI, a large French-based multinational at the end of this month in Geneva, Switzerland.
The agreement covers human rights at work, accommodations, and issues related to fair recruitment and employment rights of workers. QDVC commits to apply the agreement to workers employed by sub-contractors and to use due diligence to ensure that the agreement is respected.
BWI General Secretary Ambet Yuson said, “this agreement with QDVC and VINCI, which complements and builds on our productive cooperation with the Steering Committee on Delivery and Legacy, is a major step towards the full respect of workers’ rights in Qatar. We look forward to working with both parties in our ongoing efforts to improve the working and living conditions of migrant construction workers in Qatar. As the test of the agreement indicates, it is ‘founded on the shared belief that all construction workers should be treated with dignity, and live and work in decent and safe conditions.”
The framework agreement commits to following national and international occupational safety and health and safety standards, including on heat stress, health and safety training, and protective equipment. There are provisions on other conditions, including paying wages according to their employment contract directly into worker bank accounts, medical and holiday leave, and safe repatriation paid by the company regardless of the reason.
The agreement includes an extensive system of follow-up, reporting, monitoring, inspection, and auditing under the authority of a reference group composed of representatives of the three parties. All aspects of the implementation of the agreement will be reviewed by the group.