One minute global silence over death of worker at World Cup training site
Responding to the tragic and fatal accident of a Filipino migrant worker at the World Cup training site in Qatar, the Building and Woodworkers’ International (BWI) calls for a minute of global silence in his memory, and for all migrant construction workers who died on the job to make the brightest sporting event in the world possible.
BWI invites all affiliates, construction and woodworkers, partners and allies worldwide to observe a one-minute of silence this 9 December, 4pm CET/11pm PST, ahead of the first match of the World Cup quarterfinals, and another one on 10 December, Saturday, International Human Rights Day.
Ambet Yuson, BWI General Secretary said:
“Millions of construction workers in the BWI family express heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of the Filipino worker. The only way to honour this tragic death is to fight for the living: to ensure it never happens again and to adequately compensate his family.
The answers from FIFA and the authorities are not enough. They fall short of any credibility that lessons will be learnt from such failures.
Government investigations cannot be taken seriously if they only represent the interests of the employers and of the government itself. Where is worker’s say in it? Where are workers’ independent safety inspectors?
Without an independent safety investigation on the causes of the tragic event there is no guarantee that all we be done to find the truth and honour the victim, that sanctions will be taken against the employer, and that the tragedy will motivate improvements so that it never happens again.”
At the eve of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, BWI warned about the deafening silence from FIFA and the Qatari authorities in response to the constructive proposals by trade unions and human rights groups for a compensation fund and a workers’ center for migrant workers to secure a legacy of decent after the tournament.