Vinci in the clear

The French public prosecutor of Nanterre, Paris, has decided not to take any further action regarding a complaint made by the French association Sherpa against construction firm Vinci.

Sherpa had originally claimed that Vinci and its Qatari subsidiary, Qatari Diar Vinci Construction (QDVC), had used forced labour to construct buildings for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Vinci said it endeavoured “not only to observe local employment law and fundamental rights, but also to make constant improvements to the working and living conditions of its employees, whether in Qatar or anywhere else in the world”.

The company also raised the point that it had opened its sites to unions, staff representatives, international NGOs (non-governmental organisations) and journalists on a number of occasions, and those observers concluded that employees of QDVC had unimpeded access to their passports, and that working hours and rest periods were strictly observed.

It was said that at the end of their contracts, more than 70% of QDVC’s workers decided to return to the company to sign a new two-year contract.