International Labor Day

FROM THE EDITOR  

Dear Qatar Super Stars,

​

Every 1st of May of every year, we receive a Happy International Labor Day greeting. I picked up a little history to clearly understand how the celebration came into place.

The International Labor Day, also referred to as May Day, is a day of celebration for workers that honors the global protest that took place in the United States on May 1, 1886. This protest was preceded by a mass stoppage undertaken in Australia in 1856. The goal of the movement was to push the establishment of an eight-hour workday for workers and members of the working class.

Over the years, the celebration for the workers has evolved beyond the aim of the first protest.  Labor unions have transitioned into becoming a powerful support system and democracy has become extensively practiced, ensuring that the workers receive their rights. Undoubtedly, the workers now have the venue and the voice for their issues to be heard and addressed.

In QSS, we launched the SWAP in 2010. SWAP stands for Staff Welfare Assistance Program. The establishment of this Welfare Team aimed to support Qatar’s initiatives to uphold and defend the rights of the migrant workers.

Since then, the SWAP's mission has broadened to include not only monitoring the workers' contractual rights from recruitment to employment, but also organizing events and activities that give them a chance to have a life outside of work, unwind, and return to work more inspired and productive. 

The Staff Welfare Assistance Program and the Worker Welfare Officers serve as the forum and the voice, respectively, for our employees at QSS. This is proof that QSS respects and safeguards its most valuable resource, the employees, by enabling them to use their freedom to come forward and raise any concern that may jeopardize their rights as workers. 

You can trust confidently that every day is International Labor Day in QSS as SWAP strives daily with conscious efforts to be in alignment with the country's initiatives.  So, please feel free to contact your respective Worker Welfare Officer at any time.  

Wilma Curato

HR & Corporate Planning Manager