Trade unions and the protection of migrant workers in Europe: barriers, approaches and interventions
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.12795/e-RIPS.2023.mon.06Keywords:
Trabajadores migrantes, Condiciones de trabajo, Sindicatos, Barreras, IntervencionesAbstract
Migrant workers in Europe, particularly those from third countries, often encounter challenging working conditions that could significantly benefit from the support and protection provided by trade unions. This study explores the substantial obstacles that migrant workers must overcome to unionise, emphasising the structural disadvantages they face in the process. It also examines the attitudes of European trade unions towards migrant workers, revealing a growing pro-immigration trend despite certain setbacks. The study concludes by shedding light on intriguing strategies and initiatives used by trade unions to support migrant workers. The effort to integrate migrant workers into trade unions is worthwhile, despite the many difficulties involved. Unionisation stands as one of the most effective means of improving the working and living conditions of migrant workers.
Downloads
References
Afonso, A.; Negash, S.; Wolff, E.: “Closure, equality or organisation: Trade union responses to EU labour migration”, Journal of European Social Policy, vol. 30, n. 5, 2020, pp. 528-542, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0958928720950607.
Alberti, G.; Però, D.: “Migrating industrial relations: Migrant workers’ initiative within and outside trade unions”, British Journal of Industrial Relations, vol. 56, n. 4, 2018, pp. 693-715, DOI: 10.1111/bjir.12308.
Bertone, S.; Griffin, G.; Iverson, R.: “Immigrant workers and Australian trade unions: Participation and attitudes”, The International Migration Review, vol. 29, n. 3, 1995, pp. 722-744, DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/2547502.
Borg, I.: “The length of stay of foreign workers in Malta”, Central Bank of Malta, January 2019. Accessible in: https://www.centralbankmalta.org/file.aspx?f=72312, last accessed: September 28, 2023.
Castles, S.: “Labour migration and the trade unions in Western Europe”, Centre for Multicultural Studies, University of Wollongong, Occasional Paper 18, 1990.
Cauchi, A.: Labour immigration of third-country nationals to Malta: A critical appraisal of the current regulatory framework, Master’s dissertation, University of Malta, 2018. Accessible in: https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar//handle/123456789/38712, last accessed: September 28, 2023.
Connolly, H.; Marino, S.; Martínez Lucio, M.: Trade unions and immigration in the UK: Equality and immigrant worker engagement without collective rights, Manchester Business School, University of Manchester, Manchester, Project Funded by the Leverhulme Trust, 2012. Accessible in: https://documents.manchester.ac.uk/display.aspx?DocID=48497, last accessed: September 28, 2023.
Corbanese, V.; Rosas, G.: Policies to prevent and tackle labour exploitation and forced labour in Europe, International Labour Organization, Rome, 2021. Accessible in: https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---europe/---ro-geneva/---ilo-rome/documents/publication/wcms_842406.pdf, last accessed: September 28, 2023.
Danaj, S.; Caro, E.; Mankki, L.; Sippola, M.; Lillie, N.: “Unions and migrant workers. The perspective of Estonians in Finland and Albanians in Italy and Greece”, in Doellgast, V.; Lillie, N.; Pulignano, V. (eds.): Reconstructing solidarity: Labour unions, precarious work, and the politics of institutional change in Europe, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2018, pp. 207-225, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198791843.003.0010
Debono, M.: “Migrants and the challenge of decent work in Malta”, e-Revista Internacional de la Protección Social, vol. 6, n. 2, 2021, pp. 272-293,DOI: 10.12795/e-rips.2021.i02.12
Debono, M.; Garzia, C.: Covid-19 impact on the employment conditions of women, youth, people with disabilities, and atypical workers, 2022. Accessible in: https://gwu.org.mt/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Report-%E2%80%93-COVID-19-Impact-on-Employment-Conditions-1.pdf, last accessed: September 28, 2023.
Destatis: Europe. 7.1 million EU citizens working in other EU Member States, 20 June 2023. Accessible in: https://www.destatis.de/Europa/EN/Topic/Population-Labour-Social-Issues/Labour-market/Labour_Mobility.html, last accessed: September 28, 2023.
Dias-Abey, M.: “Legal mobilization and identity formation in British trade unions: Bridging the spaces-in-between”, in Boutcher, S; Shdaimah, C.; Yarbrough, M. (eds.): Research handbook on law, social movements and social change, Edward Elgar, UK, 2021, DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4140900
Donnelly, M.: “Competition and solidarity: Union members and immigration in Europe”, West European Politics, vol. 39, n. 4, 2016, pp. 688-709. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/01402382.2015.1110941
Dundon, T.; González-Pérez, M.; McDonough, T.: “Bitten by the Celtic Tiger: Immigrant workers and industrial relations in the new `glocalized’ Ireland”, Economic and Industrial Democracy, vol. 28, n. 4, 2007, pp. 501-522, DOI: 10.1177/0143831x07082122
European Commission: Statistics on migration to Europe. Overall figures of immigrants in European society, May 2023. Accessible in: https://commission.europa.eu/strategy-and-policy/priorities-2019-2024/promoting-our-european-way-life/statistics-migration-europe_en, last accessed: September 28, 2023.
European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC). ETUC final strategy on migration and inclusion, ETUC mid-term strategy on migration, asylum and inclusion. Adopted at the meeting of the Executive Committee on 8–9 June, 2016. Accessible in: https://www.etuc.org/en/document/etuc-final-strategy-migration-and-inclusion, last accessed: September 28, 2023.
European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC). Trade unions: Organising and promoting undocumented migrant workers’ rights; Migrant workers’ rights are human rights. Accessible in: etuc.org/en/publication/trade-unions-organising-and-promoting-undocumented-migrant-workers-rights-migrant, last accessed: September 28, 2023.
European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC). Union Migrant Network. Accessible in: https://www.etuc.org/en/issue/union-migrant-network, last accessed: September 28, 2023.
European Trade Union Institute (ETUI). “A worker is a worker”: The trade unions organising migrants”, HesaMag, n. 20, special report 3/33, Autumn-winter 2019. Accessible in: https://www.etui.org/topics/health-safety-working-conditions/hesamag/migrant-workers-in-fortress-europe/a-worker-is-a-worker-the-trade-unions-organising-migrants, last accessed: September 28, 2023.
Fitzgerald, I.; Hardy, J.: “Thinking outside the box? Trade union organizing strategies and Polish migrant workers in the United Kingdom”, British Journal of Industrial Relations, vol. 48, n. 1, 2010, pp. 131-150. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8543.2009.00761.x
General Workers’ Union: A strong cross-border trade union alliance collaboration agreement between General Workers Union and CGIL, 2021. Accessible in: https://gwu.org.mt/en/a-strong-cross-border-trade-union-alliance-collaboration-agreement-between-general-workers-union-and-cgil/, last accessed: September 28, 2023.
Gorodzeisky, A.; Richards, A.: “Do immigrants trust trade unions? A study of 18 European Countries”, British Journal of Industrial Relations, vol. 58, n. 1, 2020, pp. 3-26, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/bjir.12466
Gorodzeisky, A.; Richards, A.: “Trade unions and migrant workers in Western Europe”, European Journal of Industrial Relations, vol. 19, n. 3, 2013, pp. 239-254, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0959680113493694
Gorodzeisky, A.; Richards, A.: “Union members’ attitudes towards immigrant workers: A 14-country study”, European Journal of Industrial Relations, vol. 22, n. 1, 2016, pp. 23-38, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0959680115589490
Hardy, J.; Fitzgerald, I.: “Cross border trade union collaboration in the context of competition and arbitraging labour in an enlarged Europe”, ESRC Research Seminar Series Changing Cultures of Competitiveness, 2008.
Johns, M.: The new minorities of Europe: social cohesion in the European Union, Lexington Books, Lanham, Maryland, 2014.
Kahmann, M.: “Trade unions and migrant workers: Examples from the United States, South Africa and Spain”, European Trade Union Institute, 2002.
Kranendonk, M.; De Beer, P.: “What explains the union membership gap between migrants and natives?”, British Journal of Industrial Relations, vol. 54, n. 4, 2016, pp. 846-869, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/bjir.12192
Marino, S.: “Trade unions, special structures and the inclusion of migrant workers”, Work, Employment and Society, vol. 29, n. 5, 2015, pp. 826-842, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0950017015575866
Marino, S.; Penninx, R.; Roosblad, J.: “Trade unions, immigration and immigrants in Europe revisited: Unions’ attitudes and actions under new conditions”, Comparative Migration Studies, vol. 3, n. 1, 2015.
Meardi, G.; Martín, A.; Riera, M.: “Constructing uncertainty: Unions and migrant labour in construction in Spain and the UK”, Journal of Industrial Relations, vol. 54, n. 1, 2012, pp. 5-21, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0022185611432388
Mustchin, S.: “Unions, learning, migrant Workers and union revitalization in Britain”, Work, Employment and Society, vol. 26, n. 6, 2012, pp. 951-967, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0950017012458022
Pajares, M.: “Foreign workers and trade unions: The challenges posed”, Transfer, vol. 14, n. 4, 2008, pp. 607-624, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/102425890801400407
Penninx, R.; Roosblad, J. (eds.): Trade unions, immigration, and immigrants in Europe, 1960-1993: A comparative study of the attitudes and actions of trade unions in seven West European countries, Berghahn Books, New York/Oxford, 2000.
Refslund, B.: “When strong unions meet precarious migrants: Building trustful relations to unionise labour migrants in a high union-density setting”, Economic and Industrial Democracy, vol. 42, n. 2, 2021, pp. 314-335, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0143831X18760989
Rogalewski, A.: Organising Polish workers: A comparative case study of British (Unison) and Swiss (Unia) trade union strategies. Thesis submitted for the degree of Professional Doctorate in Researching Work, August 2019, London Metropolitan University, UK.
Rogalewski, A.: “Trade unions challenges in organising Polish workers: A comparative case study of British and Swiss trade union strategies”, European Journal of Industrial Relations, vol. 28, n. 4, 2022, pp. 385-404, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/09596801211063306
Tharenou, P.; Kulik, C.: “Skilled migrants employed in developed, mature economies: From newcomers to organizational insiders”, Journal of Management, vol. 46, n. 6, 2020, pp. 1156-1181, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206320921229
Thomas, A.: “Cross-border labour markets and the role of trade unions in representing migrant workers’ interests”, Journal of Industrial Relations, vol. 62, n. 2, 2020, pp. 235-255, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0022185619889073
Thomas, A.: “Degrees of inclusion: Free movement of labour and the unionization of migrant workers in the European Union”, Journal of Common Market Studies, vol. 54, n. 2, 2016, pp. 408-425, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/jcms.12284
Wallinder, Y.: “Otherness in the workplace among highly skilled labour migrants: Swedes in Germany and the UK”, Work, Employment and Society, vol. 36, n. 2, 2022, pp. 253-270, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/09500170211024444
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2023 Manwel Debono
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Authors being published in this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain their copyright and they will guarantee to the journal the right of first publication of their work, which will be simultaneously subject to license recognition by Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 DEED)
that allows others to share such work provided that the author’s name and his first publication in the e-International Review on Social Protection is stated. - Authors may take other non-exclusive distribution license agreements version of the published work (e.g. deposit in an institutional digital file or publication in a monographic volume) provided that the initial publication in this journal is stated.
- Authors are allowed and encouraged to disseminate their work via the Internet (e.g. in institutional digital files or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, which can lead to interesting exchanges and to increase citation of the published work.
Accepted 2023-11-29
Published 2023-12-28
- Abstract 97
- PDF 90
- HTML 9
