Qatar Airways discriminates says ILO

PARIS The International Labour Organisation on Tuesday called on Qatar Airways to scrap contracts allowing the state-owned airline to sack female crew members who became pregnant, saying such measures were discriminatory.
The UN agency also rapped the airline for stipulating that women crew members could only be picked up from work by their father, brother or husband.
The airline won a SkyTrax award this week and probably garnered online votes from female travellers unaware of the allegations raised by the ILO.
The ILO had looked into the Doha-based airline’s employment rules after the International Transport Workers’ Federation and the International Trade Union Confederation brought the case to the UN agency.
inside no 7“The provisions providing the company with the possibility to automatically terminate the employment of women cabin crew on the sole basis of pregnancy are discriminatory,” the ILO said.
It said the provision breached its 57-year-old convention against discrimination at work, which has been ratified by more than 170 countries.
The ILO also asked the Qatar government about the impact of a clause stipulating that crew members needed prior permission from the company to get married. The carrier said the clause has been dropped.
The ILO’s finding came as Qatar Airways won the Airline of the Year Award for the third time at the annual Skytrax World Awards at the Paris air show.
Revelations over it alleged discrimination in the work place and unfair regulation could impact on the airline’s ability to win awards in the future. Skytrax awards are based on popular votes posted online.

sourced:ttrweekly.com