n By Keith Hatch


Unite has joined calls on governments to “Heat-up Workers’ Rights, Not the Planet!" at a BWI conference held in Dubai recently.


With 2023 being the hottest ever recorded, and the heat expecting to continue to rise, construction workers are in the front line when it comes to the impact of climate change on the world of work.


One area of the world that is being affected worst is the Gulf area – and the army of migrant workers who build the large-scale construction projects that spread across the region.


It was then of vital importance that


the Building and Wood Workers International (BWI) held a conference in Dubai in parallel with the CoP28 climate talks held in the city late last year.


The conference, called “Migrant workers in the gulf cooperation council countries: strengthening occupational safety and health management and workers’ rights in construction in a changing climate”, brought together trade unions from across the world to discuss the increasing impact of climate change on construction and the BWI campaign “Heat-up workers’ rights, not the planet!".


This aims to address the effects of climate change on construction and forestry workers’ health, and calls “for immediate action and ambitious measures to protect outdoor workers” from the effects of excessive heat and adverse weather conditions.”


Outdoor workers increasingly face heat-related illnesses, heat stroke, heat exhaustion, dehydration, reduced concentration and greater risk of accidents, along with hazards related to a growing number of severe weather events that can lead to flooding, landslides, and other physical dangers.


Stephen Craig, Unite national development officer joined around 60 representatives from unions across Europe, South Asia, Africa Middle East and Gulf, along with related organisations and migrant workers from various Gulf countries.


Delegates discussed how collective agreements are vital to regulate processes and working conditions related to the global climate emergency. They shared initiatives and


agreed on ways to ensure a just and equitable transition to a net zero carbon economy based on decent work, quality jobs for all workers, reducing the safety risks at the workplace.


The BWI is calling on governments and employers to work with trade unions in the building and construction, wood, forestry and allied material sectors to ensure workers are protected from health and safety risks as an effect of climate change, and that their voices


are at the heart of transition planning. Ambet Yuson, BWI general secretary said, “In too many countries, construction sites are becoming deadly workplaces during summer due to the foolish under-estimation of risks associated with excessive heat.


“In November this year, the UN Climate Summit – so-called COP28 – in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) will take place in one of the fastest-warming places on the planet, the Middle East and the Gulf Cooperation Countries.”


“In Dubai, world leaders and their delegations will reside in luxury residential hotels and modern complexes with comforts and green certified standards. This marks a shocking disconnect with the poor, dangerous and too often deadly working and living conditions of migrant construction workers who built those facilities, worsened by excessive heat.


“If governments are to fulfil their fundamental obligations to respect and promote the human right to a healthy and safe environment when taking decisions that work for everyone, they must first and foremost consider the voice of those workers affected by the climate crisis”.


Across the Gulf construction workers face working in temperatures above 50 degrees Celsius for around four months of the year. This has a huge impact on health problems such as heat-stress, particularly for migrant workers.


Human Rights Watch have highlighted studies indicating “that the risks of extreme heat have escalated in the Gulf states in recent years due to climate change. While all workers in the Gulf face risks from extreme heat, migrant workers are overwhelmingly exposed to the most dangerous working conditions in the region.”


27 Unite buildingWORKER Spring 2024


It pointed to workers being given inadequate breaks or protection from the extreme heat and “experiencing dehydration, nosebleeds, nausea, dizziness, headache, fainting and fever.” as well as “crowded living conditions, absence of shaded rest areas at worksites, and lack of air- conditioned transportation services during commutes also affect workers’ ability to rest, rehydrate, and recover from heat exposure.”


Estimates suggest that failing to drastically cut emissions drastically today could mean “a 370 percent surge in heat-related deaths by 2050”.


The BWI Manifesto calls for the human right to safe and healthy working environments a reality in each workplace, and that it must be a key priority in any actions around adaptation.


Stephen spoke on the first day of the conference at a panel discussion about labour migration and strategies to recruit and organise migrant workers.


Stephen shared Unite’s experiences with delegates, both on construction


sites and via the Unite Migrant Workers Education Project as well as Unite's involvement in Qatar with BWI and supporting the BWI Manifesto and Call to Action.


Stephen said, “Migrant labour is a growing issue industrially, politically and societally and it's important that we organise vulnerable workers to prevent them being abused, exploited or denied their rights by unscrupulous employers.


“The increasing use of migrant workers across Gulf Cooperation Countries to deliver large scale infrastructure projects and mega sporting events is a concern as they are often working outside in incredibly high temperatures which makes them vulnerable to heat stress, higher risks of cancer, immune system dysfunction, stroke and even death.”


The world is continuing to heat up – and construction workers are some of the first to feel the full force of the climate emergency. Unite and BWI continue to fight for the right to be safe at work, and push governments and employers to make the adaptations needed for the future.


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