McDonald's, Amazon in Middle East accused of labour exploitation and trafficking: Report

Workers at major US and UK brands, like Mcdonald’s and Amazon, working for their Middle Eastern branches have allegedviolations of labour laws, including low pay and harsh working conditions. The revelations were made in an investigative report by The Guardian.

Nearly 100 migrant workers from Asia reported to The Guardian of repressive labour practices while working at the Persian Gulf locations of four well-known brands- McDonald’s, Amazon, Chuck E Cheese and InterContinental Hotels.

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The workers were interviewed as part of Trafficking Inc, a joint investigation by the Guardian US, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), NBC News, Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism and other media partners.

Harsh, unbearable working conditions

Macrae Lee and Buddhiman Sunar, migrant labourers from Asia, talked to The Guardian while recalling the horrific working environment at McDonald'slocations owned and operated by the Prince’s Riyadh International Catering Corp (RICC).

Lee, from the Philippines, says RICC’s store managers ordered him to put in as many as 22 hours a day and hundreds of hours of unpaid overtime. He was denied days offfor rest even when he was down with a fever. When he tried to quit, a manager withheld paperwork that would have permitted him to find a new employer, he claims. This left him jobless and begging on the street for food and water.

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Sunar, who is from Nepal, said he had to pay a pretty high recruiting fee to an employment agent in his country to work at the prince’s fast-food outlets. When he was in Riyadh, he worked 13-and 14-hour shifts with no breaks. Also, managers used to abuse him, calling him, “an animal”, told Sunar. When he stepped outside the restaurant, he says, he had to fill out an “incident report” explaining why.

Indicators of labour trafficking

The current and former workers say independent employment agents in their home countries coerced them into paying exorbitant recruiting fees. While labour contractors and workplace supervisors in Saudi Arabia and other destination countries subjected them to abuses that included confiscating their passports and limiting their freedom to leave their jobs.

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These practices are widely identified as indicators of labour trafficking by the United Nations (UN).

Michael Page, deputy director of the Middle East and North Africa division at Human Rights Watch, says big companies have responsibilities under UN human rights standards to check their global operations and supply chains. This has to be done even when the component is a franchise holder instead of a company-owned branch.

(With inputs from agencies)

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