Unions and Migrant Workers

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sonila Danaj ◽  
Erka Çaro ◽  
Laura Mankki ◽  
Markku Sippola ◽  
Nathan Lillie
Keyword(s):  
Labour Market ◽  
Trade Union ◽  
Migrant Workers ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Market Regulation ◽  
Host Countries ◽  
Informal Work ◽  
Work Relations ◽  
Labour Market Regulation ◽  
The Relationship

This chapter examines the relationship between migrant workers and trade unions in different host countries. Based on a series of biographic interviews with Estonian migrant workers in Finland and Albanian workers in Italy and Greece, it makes the case that when migrants join unions, it is usually a result of an individual movement out of precarious and sometimes informal work into secure, formal work relations. The availability of such secure jobs for migrants is a result of inclusive national institutions of labour market regulation, and a strong trade union workplace presence. Although in all three countries the migrants were quite passive and instrumentalist in their relations to unions, they nonetheless generally joined when working in unionized contexts, as a way of conforming to workplace norms.

Representing foreign workers in the private security industry: a South African perspective on trade union engagement

2014 ◽  
Vol 52 (1) ◽  
pp. 123-149
Author(s):  
Steven Gordon ◽  
Brij Maharaj
Keyword(s):  
Labour Market ◽  
South African ◽  
Trade Union ◽  
Migrant Workers ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Private Security ◽  
Foreign Workers ◽  
Undocumented Migrant ◽  
Trade Union Movement ◽  
Study Approach

ABSTRACTIn recent years South African cities have become home to a large number of undocumented migrant workers. If trade unions do not organise undocumented migrant workers, it opens up such workers to exploitation and maltreatment by employers, thereby creating a split labour market that undermines the entire labour movement. This article focuses on the responses of the national trade union movement in the private security sector to the presence of undocumented workers at the grassroots level. Using a case study approach, we find that the pressures of labour market informalisation in the industry prompt unions to seek to maintain and advance their position from their traditional support base of citizen workers rather than attempt to include new groups. The failure to engage is reinforced by anti-immigrant attitudes which link foreigners with problems in the industry such as low wages and portrays such workers as co-conspirators rather than comrades. While justice and solidarity have always been the foundation of trade unionism in South Africa, the movement is in danger of failing this test if the current situation in terms of the exclusion of undocumented foreign workers persists.

scholarly journals The evolving nature of labour inspection, enforcement of employment rights and the regulatory reach of the state in Britain

2020 ◽  
Vol 62 (5) ◽  
pp. 735-757
Author(s):  
Stephen Mustchin ◽  
Miguel Martínez Lucio
Keyword(s):  
Labour Market ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
The State ◽  
State Agencies ◽  
Market Regulation ◽  
Role Of The State ◽  
Labour Market Regulation ◽  
Enforcement Mechanisms ◽  
Employment Rights

The role of the state in directly regulating employment through enforcement mechanisms is increasingly significant and politically contentious in a context of weakened unions and the increasingly fragmented and precarious nature of the labour market. This article focuses on qualitative research on labour market regulatory actors in Britain, including the Health and Safety Executive, the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority, as well as referencing relevant changes in HM Revenue and Customs, trade unions, legal and advice services and other state agencies. The article argues that a curious dynamic is emerging in labour market regulation involving simultaneous processes of deregulation, greater levels of direct intervention in some areas alongside marketisation, and innovative forms of collaboration between relevant state agencies. Much of this is, however, driven by constraints imposed through economic austerity and neoliberal policies with an increasing focus on immigration and policing concerns, creating notable sets of organisational tensions within and between the agencies and the work of their relevant inspectors.

scholarly journals The fourth industrial revolution and labour market regulation in Singapore

2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 347-363
Author(s):  
Peter Waring ◽  
Azad Bali ◽  
Chris Vas
Keyword(s):  
Artificial Intelligence ◽  
Labour Market ◽  
Industrial Revolution ◽  
Autonomous Systems ◽  
Market Regulation ◽  
Jel Codes ◽  
Fourth Industrial Revolution ◽  
Labour Market Regulation ◽  
Social Safety Nets ◽  
Large Survey

The race to develop and implement autonomous systems and artificial intelligence has challenged the responsiveness of governments in many areas and none more so than in the domain of labour market policy. This article draws upon a large survey of Singaporean employees and managers (N = 332) conducted in 2019 to examine the extent and ways in which artificial intelligence and autonomous technologies have begun impacting workplaces in Singapore. Our conclusions reiterate the need for government intervention to facilitate broad-based participation in the productivity benefits of fourth industrial revolution technologies while also offering re-designed social safety nets and employment protections. JEL Codes: J88, K31, O38, M53

Trade Unions and the Welfare of Rural-Urban Migrant Workers in China

ILR Review ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 001979392110044
Author(s):  
Alison Booth ◽  
Richard Freeman ◽  
Xin Meng ◽  
Jilu Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Trade Union ◽  
Migrant Workers ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Fixed Effects ◽  
Mental Health Problems ◽  
Panel Survey ◽  
Monthly Income ◽  
Work Related ◽  
Urban Migrant

Using a panel survey, the authors investigate how the welfare of rural-urban migrant workers in China is affected by trade union presence at the workplace. Controlling for individual fixed effects, they find the following. Relative to workers from workplaces without union presence or with inactive unions, both union-covered non-members and union members in workplaces with active unions earn higher monthly income, are more likely to have a written contract, be covered by social insurances, receive fringe benefits, express work-related grievances through official channels, feel more satisfied with their lives, and are less likely to have mental health problems.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document