A national airline in the Persian Gulf is under fire for
discriminatory and restrictive aspects of its internal policy.
Qatar Airways, owned by the Qatari government, has drawn the ire of the United Nations’ International Labor Organization (ILO), which is looking at airline rules and regulations applying to stewardesses and other female
employees.
According to June reports in Al Jazeera America, airline
policies have included automatically terminating women who get
pregnant. In this case, advocates for the airline cited restrictions on flight during
pregnancy. However, other findings show that airline leaders have
applied other special rules governing female crew members. For example,
there is an alleged policy stipulation that a family member, such as a father,
brother or husband, must pick up a female employee from work at the end of her shift.
In some cases, policies have been scrapped by the airline
after controversy.
Al Jazeera documented an investigation by the ILO
into a contract clause requiring crew members to get permission from the
company before getting married. Policymakers protested that such a
rule does not discriminate toward either gender, but eventually dropped the stipulation from employment contracts.
So what is the ILO doing to monitor and combat these
policies?
In response to Gulf News Journal
questions last week, ILO representatives provided a document called “Follow-up to
the Recommendations of the Tripartite Committee” that shows that in June 2015,
the ILO’s governing body adopted the recommendations of a committee looking at
discriminatory practices on the part of the airline and its government owner. The committee of experts found that the government has not correctly responded to
requests from the governing body, which has condemned aspects of Qatar’s
Constitution and its labor law.
“Both (the constitution and the labor
law) fall short of effectively prohibiting discrimination … particularly those
of political opinion, national extraction and social origin, and only protect
against discrimination in certain aspects of employment,” the report said
The report also notes that several
categories of workers are excluded from Qatar’s 2004 labor law, including
domestic workers. As for gender discrepancies, the report cited male
workforce participation at 64.7 percent and female participation at 35.3 percent.
The ILO report also critiques a suggestion by the Qatari
government that a lack of known complaints from laborers represents labor
compliance, citing the plight of migrant workers.
“Where no cases or complaints, or very
few, are being lodged, this is likely to indicate a lack of an appropriate
legal framework, a lack of awareness of rights, a lack of confidence in or
absence of practical access to procedures, or fear of reprisals.” the ILO
report said. “The fear of reprisals or victimization is a particular concern in
the case of migrant workers. The lack of complaints or cases could also
indicate that the system of recording violations is insufficiently developed.”
Much of the report revolves around
requests for more information on Qatari promises to implement programs for
transparency and anti-discrimination and calls for Qatar to submit information
to human rights organizations, citing a continued absence of a clear legislative framework
addressing protection against discrimination.
Human rights groups around the world continue to monitor the situation, hoping that Qatar’s government will take more concrete steps to provide fairness and respect for all workers.
