Qatar workers and Austrian union receive BWI Fair Games Award

The Building and Woodworkers’ International (BWI), on the occasion of its 5^th World Congress, bestowed on 6 October 2022 its Fair Games Awards to the leaders of the Community Leaders’ Forum in Qatar, and the Union of Construction and Woodworkers (GBH) in Austria for their outstanding work in building a decent work legacy around mega-sporting events.

The Fair Games Award, also known as the “Jin Sook Lee Award,” is part of the larger BWI “Power to the People” Awards which aim to celebrate the exemplary work of BWI affiliates and/or individual members worldwide and highlight exceptional examples of trade union struggles and victories against overarching system challenges.

The Fair Games Award is in recognition of the organisation, individual or group of individuals or of organisations that best demonstrated outstanding commitment in the fight against the exploitation and abuse of construction workers, many of whom are migrant workers, in the building of mega-sporting events. 

Conferring the award is BWI Deputy President Dietmar Schäfers and FIFPRO General Secretary Jonas Baer-Hoffman. Schäfers lauded the growing role and voice of FIFPRO in providing platforms for football players concerned about the state of workers who are building the infrastructure for mega-sporting events, particularly  the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. 

“With FIFPRO, we share central values and beliefs concerning the protection of fundamental human rights and labour conditions. With less than 2 months before the FIFA World Cup 2022 kicks off, we are delighted to welcome Jonas Baer-Hoffman, FIFPRO General Secretary as a true workers’ rights champion in our collective journey to ensure a decent work legacy in Qatar,” Schäfers said. 

Migrant workers received the award on behalf of the Community Leaders’ Forum in Qatar. Schäfers said that the forum is a crucial and innovative piece of labour reform in Qatar which  provide platforms for migrant community leaders and representatives of the Ministry to engage in meaningful and sincere discussions on issues impacting migrant workers as well as updating the communities on recent changes in Qatar’s labour policies.  

Meanwhile, GBH, represented by its president, Josef Muchitsch, was honoured for building a school that benefited the children of the Nepalese migrant workers who died in the construction sites of the World Cup 2022 in Qatar. The school helped 800 children get access to better education and build better lives.