The Qatari official responsible for delivery of the 2022 World Cup has said the number of migrant workers who have died on World Cup-related projects is “between 400 and 500”.

Hassan al-Thawadi, the secretary general of the Supreme Committee for delivery and legacy, made the admission in an interview but said a precise figure for the number of fatalities was still “being discussed”. — The Guardian

Oki, a qualified architect at global construction company Mace, has been chosen by an informal collective of early-career architects, students and architectural activists keen to shake-up the institute and move it beyond ‘empty slogans and self-serving initiatives’. — Architect's Journal

Workers in Belgium will soon be able to choose a four-day week under a series of labour market reforms announced on Tuesday. The reform package agreed by the country's multi-party coalition government will also give workers the right to turn off work devices and ignore work-related messages after hours without fear of reprisal. — Euronews

Contractors working in Qatar will need to update their employment contracts, and can expect tougher competition in attracting labour, thanks to a new law that guarantees a minimum wage and makes it easier to change employers, a law firm says.

Coming into effect 9 October this year, Law No. 17 sets the minimum wage at QAR 1,000 per month ($275), plus QAR 500 per month ($137) for accommodation and QAR 300 per month ($82) for food. — Global Construction Review

United Voices of the World (UVW) will support the Section of Architectural Workers (UVW-SAW), as the new union is named, with free in-house legal advice, employment law and organiser training, skill-sharing, workplace representation and negotiation, as well as cross-sector experience and campaigns. Membership is between £6 and £10 per month, depending on income. — The Guardian

The myth of the calling obscures the role of architectural support staff and encourages architects to surrender their workers’ rights. It stands in the way of solidarity between all architectural workers. — Failed Architecture

Seven Chinese labourers who worked on the construction of a casino and resort in the US Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) are suing the owner of the project and two of its contractors, alleging they were victims of a forced labour scheme and had suffered injuries on site.

The labourers were working on the Imperial Pacific casino and resort in Saipan, the largest island in the South Pacific commonwealth. — Global Construction Review

The Louvre in Paris turned away thousands of tourists waiting in line to enter the museum yesterday after security staff staged a walkout. The employees are on strike to protest the museum’s handling of its exploding attendance, which exceeded 10 million people last year. This growth has resulted in “unprecedented deterioration in visiting conditions, and obviously working conditions,” according to the guards’ union. — Artnet

A law change that will allow the majority of migrant workers to leave Qatar without permission from their employers has been heralded by campaigners as a landmark in the battle against labour abuses in the build-up to the next World Cup. [...] Under the new law, employers will no longer have the power to deny exit permits to most of their workers, though they will retain this right for 5% of their workforce.

The reforms are a “step towards fundamental rights for migrant workers.” — The Guardian

A Romanian man who used threats of violence and indebtedness to keep a group of his countrymen as slaves while he pocketed their wages from a London construction site has been sentenced to seven years in jail. — Global Construction Review

Migrant workers constructing stadiums for the Qatar 2022 World Cup continue to be trapped in a vicious cycle of debt and exploitation, according to new research by Amnesty International.

Fifa is already under pressure from its own advisory board to act over the kafala system, used to monitor migrant labourers, which has been described as modern slavery. Now, a survey by Amnesty has found two-thirds of migrant workers have paid excessive or illegal recruitment fees. — The Guardian

The French architect Jean Nouvel has defended his Louvre museum in Abu Dhabi, a massive domed complex that opens in November, from accusations it was built by exploited and abused migrant workers. [...]

In an interview as the finishing touches are put to the colossal construction, the architect dismissed accusations over exploited workers as an “old question” and insisted conditions for those building the museum were better than for some employed in Europe. — The Guardian

The program was tested in states like New York, California, Texas, Illinois and Pennsylvania and involved viaduct construction, pavement rehabilitation and highway development projects. The study was extended for five years in January, just before President Trump took office.

Advocates of local employment allowances say hiring from the neighborhood helps offset longstanding racial and gender imbalances in the construction industry. — The New York Times