Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it ...

has been a member of the

International Labour Organization The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance social and economic justice by setting international labour standards. Founded in October 1919 under the League of Nations, it is the first and o ...

since 1972, but has not ratified the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948, or the

Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 The Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention (1949No 98is an International Labour Organization Convention. It is one of eight ILO fundamental conventions. Its counterpart on the general principle of freedom of association is th ...

Trade unions A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...

were outlawed by the government in 1957 in response to a large number of recurrent strikes being carried out by workers in the ''Qatar Petroleum Company'' (today

QatarEnergy QatarEnergy ( ar, قطر للطاقة), formerly Qatar Petroleum (QP), is a state owned petroleum company of Qatar. The company operates all oil and gas activities in Qatar, including exploration, production, refining, transport, and storage. The ...

). In May, 2004, the

Emir Emir (; ar, أمير ' ), sometimes transliterated amir, amier, or ameer, is a word of Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person possessing actual or cer ...

ruled that workers were allowed to form trade unions and professional associations. Additional reforms saw the right to strike, a ban on employment of youths under 16, an eight-hour working day, and equal labour rights for women legislated as part of a general reform process in Qatar. The International Transport Workers' Federation and the

International Trade Union Confederation The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC); german: Internationaler Gewerkschaftsbund (IGB), link=no; es, Confederación Sindical Internacional (CSI), link=no. is the world's largest trade union federation. History The federation w ...

have alleged that the Qatari government fails to enforce its 2004 labor law on a consistent basis, with the former criticizing

Qatar Airways Qatar Airways Company Q.C.S.C. ( ar, القطرية, ''al-Qaṭariya''), operating as Qatar Airways, is the state-owned flag carrier airline of Qatar. Headquartered in the Qatar Airways Tower in Doha, the airline operates a hub-and-spoke netwo ...

' treatment of its female employees, and the latter challenging Qatar's treatment of migrant workers.

References

Economy of Qatar {{Asia-trade-union-stub