Largest US union federation presses Fifa on labor rights around 2026 World Cup

The US’s largest federation of labor unions is leading a coalition demanding Fifa address concerns around human and labor rights at the 2026 World Cup in US, Canada and Mexico and commit to minimum standards on these issues.

The 2022 World Cup in Qatar to be held later this year has already been marred in egregious human rights and labor violations, including the deaths of thousands of migrant workers who were brought into the country to build stadiums and infrastructure for the event, evidence of forced labor, reports of withheld wages, exorbitant recruitment fees charged to workers, and paltry pay.

In December 2021, the AFL-CIO, a federation of 57 labor unions in the US, and several other labor and human rights groups, wrote a letter to Fifa demanding minimum labor standards for planning and execution of the 2026 World Cup and that Fifa meet with the groups to address commitments Fifa should make to meet human rights guarantees.

“Without such guarantees, Fifa essentially stands to profit from low wages, unsafe working conditions, racial discrimination in hiring and promotion, gentrification, and other forms of skewed development that make low-income communities dread the arrival of a mega-sporting event,” the letter wrote.

Fifa wrote back in January 2022, dismissing concerns about the governing body’s human rights policies and implementation of them.

“It was really just a superficial response. There were no initial commitments, no serious commitment to engaging us,” said Cathy Feingold, Director of the International Department at the AFL-CIO.

Feingold explained now is the time multi-million dollar deals are made ahead of the 2026 World Cup, in terms of major tax breaks and contract bids, and the coalition is pushing