Qatar Airways CEO slams ILO for 'vendetta' against his airline

Qatar Airways chief executive officer, Akbar Al Baker, has accused the International Labour Organization (ILO) of having a "vendetta" against Qatar and its national airline after the organisation called for it to stop discriminating against women staff, reports Reuters.
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The ILO has published a report detailing its recommendations to Qatar on how the airline should change its employment rules in order to end discrimination. 

"I don't give a damn about the ILO - I am there to run a successful airline," said Al Baker. "This is evidence of a vendetta it has against Qatar Airways and my country. My country has responded to the ILO accusations in a very robust way. We clarified the clauses in our contract." 

The ILO report said Qatar justified Qatar Airways' dismissal of pregnant women by citing expecting mothers' apparent lack of physical fitness to fly and inability to meet the job requirements.  

"Protective measures should include action taken to ensure that a woman worker does not lose her job during pregnancy and that maternity is not a source of discrimination," said a representative of ILO.