Vinci Faces More Legal Action Over Qatar Labor Conditions
November 22 2018 - 6:54AM
Dow Jones News
By Nathan Allen
France's Vinci SA (DG.FR) faces legal action over working
conditions at its construction projects in Qatar, after Paris-based
labor-rights nonprofit organization Sherpa said Thursday that it
was filing a joint complaint with former employees and another
activist group.
Sherpa said it is jointly filing the complaint with six Indian
and Nepalese former employees and anti-slavery group Comite contre
l'Esclavage Moderne.
They allege Vinci and its Qatari subsidiary engaged in forced
and bonded labor, human trafficking and concealing profits from
these offences at projects for the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup. The
groups claim migrant workers were forced to work in extreme heat
without proper equipment while their passports were
confiscated.
Vinci denied all the allegations and said it has long endeavored
to improve working conditions in Qatar.
No passports were ever confiscated and no serious accident has
ever been recorded as a result of heat, the company said.
Qatar's preparations to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup have been
beset by claims that migrant workers face exploitation and
human-rights violations. Rights groups such as Amnesty
International have alleged abuses of workers at projects for the
soccer World Cup--a potential reputational risk for one of France's
largest contractors.
Earlier this year a French public prosecutor dropped an
investigation into Vinci that was opened in 2015 after Sherpa filed
its first complaint.
However, Sherpa said the investigation failed to probe deep
enough and was limited to a hearing of a few Vinci executives.
"The weakness of the preliminary investigation reveals the lack
of political will of the public prosecutor's office," the group
said.
Sherpa said it has since gathered new testimony from India that
confirms the initial allegations.
Write to Nathan Allen at nathan.allen@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 22, 2018 06:39 ET (11:39 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2018 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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