Are the calls for a boycott of the football world cup part of a media frenzy? This is the thesis of Marc Tarabella, mayor of Anthisnes, European deputy, and vice-president of the parliamentary committee for the Arabian peninsula. He says he has been following the Qatari case for a long time, and, as a former trade unionist, he says he is attached to labor law. In his opinion, the emirate is far from perfect, but it is progressing. Passport confiscations are now prohibited. A law provides for a minimum wage paid into a bank account. And construction sites, from now on, must be interrupted during the hottest weather. To those who retort that these improvements, on paper, are really slow to translate into action, he replies that indeed companies do not respect the rules, there as here. And to cite the example of Mont Légia, erected with illegal labour.
According to Marc Tarabella, several organizations with little suspicion of complacency, in particular trade union internationals, underline these advances. And to deny them amounts to penalizing the progressives who, over there, try to democratize the regime. Because of course, social issues do not exhaust the debate on human rights, gender equality, climate impact, or corruption. It is in “Liège en Prime” that he presents his arguments. It is then up to everyone to assess its relevance…
