Workers at the 2018 World Cup stadium in St-Petersburg went on strike over unpaid wages on the 13th of July. The workers blocked the main gates to the construction site and did not allow representatives of the main contracting company of the stadium project to leave. The strikers went back to work after state police and prosecutor officers had arrived and promised to investigate the case with wage arrears.
As the result of the strike the Government has now terminated the contract for the stadium construction with the main contractor Injtransstroi and the case of wage arrears is under prosecutor investigation. The BWI and the Russian Building Construction Workers’ Union will closely monitor the situation with wage arrears in St-Petersburg until workers receive their full their wages. The situation is aggravated by the fact that this is the fourth strike due to unpaid wages at World Cup stadiums in Russia this year.
The BWI believes that it is critical to involve all 2018 World Cup stakeholders, including FIFA, to establish appropriate mechanisms to guarantee that workers are paid on time.