Originally Posted by
berlinflyer83
Thanks! QR definitely values their ranking, as they use it heavily in marketing. I'm hoping a UK-based organization will respond better than Qatar about human rights concerns. But, these petitions are always hard to get off the ground, and for it to really take off the story needs some more mainstream media coverage in Europe and the US.
I'm not naive either, plenty of the other 5-star airlines probably have terrible labor practices. I'd love to see that the end result of this were that Skytrax included consideration of labor practices into their formula. Industry pressure could certainly improve the conditions at all the APAC and ME carriers employing migrant workers.
I applaud the effort and just completed the petition. However, my hope of it effecting anything is jaded since they still have the world cup coming their way even though the media has aired stories about how the infrastructure to support the world cup is being built on the bodies of their workers.
While I was in Qatar I managed local contracts in which we had to add 'workers rights' clauses into the contact. We had to specify the number of workers to a room, the portions and type of food provided and number of bathrooms per worker. This was basic stuff that should be expected for workers but we had to put this stuff into the contracts to ensure or contractors provided these things. The one thing we could not get a major Qatari company to agree to was not holding the passports of their workers or eliminate 'bonds' workers were required to pay so that they could come work in Qatar.