Sommer said it was "our mission to establish humane working conditions" in Qatar, where reported abuses include workers having pay withheld, passports confiscated and being prevented from leaving the country without consent from employers.
"Qatar must guarantee the (International Labor Organization's) core labor standards and thus eliminate discrimination and forced labor as well as allow freedom of association for its 1.3 million migrant workers," Sommer said.
Qatari World Cup organizers have acknowledged that the "kafala" system of employment sponsorship which the U.N. wants abolished needs to be modernized, and say the government is preparing reforms.
The meeting on Wednesday at FIFA involved the German ITUC leader and top football officials from Germany, whose industries are expected to figure strongly in bidding for construction contracts in Qatar worth tens of billions of dollars ahead of the World Cup.
"The awarding of the World Cup and the considerable public exposure gives us the opportunity to point out irregularities and to exact lasting change," German football federation president Wolfgang Niersbach said.
FIFA said it gave executive committee member Theo Zwanziger of Germany a mandate to liaise with the ITUC and include human rights and labor organizations in the talks.
Zwanziger is scheduled to report on "concrete measures" regarding Qatar at the March 20-21 FIFA board meeting in Zurich.