Former FIFA chief Sepp Blatter announces Qatar’s winning bid

UNION chiefs say claims of a breakdown of workers rights in the run-up to the World Cup should trigger a campaign to rebuild the labour movement in this country.

Camden Trades Council vice chairman George Binette said the globe’s biggest sporting tournament had been overshadowed by “super levels of exploitation” in Qatar.

And he warned it was an example of what could happen when governments and corporations were able to hire a workforce without proper union protection.

Mr Binette said he did not back a boycott of watching the tournament but that it was important to “educate ourselves about the reality of the situation”.

He said: “Should there be more of a focus on the World Cup from the Left and the labour movements? I think there is a compelling case for that. It’s important to build a positive legacy from this. The weakening of the unions in the west is already given rise to appalling levels of exploitation and complete disregard for most basic health and safety.

“Part of the task is to rebuild labour movement and advance anti capitalist campaigning – and I think the World Cup can be used for that.”

Figures on how many people died making the new stadiums are disputed but there are claims that the total could run into the thousands.

“In Qatar it does seem that the vast majority of unskilled workers working of the stadiums and infrastructure came from south Asia,” said Mr Binette.

“There is some controversy over the frequently reported figure of 6,000 deaths. But it does seem like a lot of death certificates have simply been put down as cardiac arrests. “Well everyone’s heart stops beating when you die, so in some way that’s not meaningful. “There has been super levels of exploitation going on. Talk of improved standards is most likely little more than a corporate PR exercise.”

He added: “We also overlook the kits – what conditions those items of clothing have been produced under. Almost entirely in the global south places like Bangladeshi where there have been horrific fires in clothing factories. It’s a fair bet to assume those are not ethical threads. “We need to make sure we educate ourselves about the reality of the situation. I would push the argument for building and rebuilding unions.”

Mr Binette, the former branch secretary for Camden Unison, said: “I read a shocking piece in the New York Times that the Department of Labour found dozens of teens have been working as cleaners in meat packing plants some of them were exposed to caustic chemicals. That is in America.” The World Cup has followed criticism of the takeover of some Premier League football by entities linked to Gulf states. “There should be a campaign looking at the relationship between Qatari capital and the Premiership.

The Saudi Royal family has a stake in Newcastle. Then there’s Man City,” he said. “But in some ways it is just as bad as the money coming from Fenway, Kroenke and the Glazers.” There have been calls from some critics of the Qatar regime to show solidarity with workers by boycotting the tournament.

But Mr Binette said: “I think telling people not to watch it is just moralism and you run the risk of being a killjoy. I know a lot of progressive left wing people who are intending to watch it and many of them will be supporting England. You will have heard people saying Russia hosted the last World Cup and that was hardly a workers’ paradise.”

A Liverpool fan, he said he loved competitive sport but had struggled to get interested in International tournaments, adding: “I don’t like international competitions because of the nationalism and chauvinism it whips up. If I root for any team it would be Wales, I like their songs.”