scholarly journals “The lottery of my life”: Migration trajectories and the production of precarity among Bangladeshi migrant workers in Singapore's construction industry

2018 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 249-272 ◽  
Author(s):  
Grace Baey ◽  
Brenda S. A. Yeoh
Keyword(s):  
Labor Markets ◽  
Construction Industry ◽  
Migrant Workers ◽  
Labor Migration ◽  
Legal Status ◽  
Construction Workers ◽  
Host Society ◽  
Precarious Employment ◽  
Employment Conditions ◽  
Migration Industry

Within the scholarship on precarity, low-waged contract-based migrants are recognized as centrally implicated in precarious employment conditions at the bottom of neoliberal capitalist labor markets. Precarity as a socially corrosive condition stems from both the multiple insecurities of the workplace as disposable labor, and a sense of deportability as migrant subjects with marginal socio-legal status in the host society. Our study of Bangladeshi construction workers in Singapore contributes to refining understandings of precarity by approaching labor migration as a cumulative, intensively mediated process, whereby risks and vulnerabilities are compounded across different sites in migrants’ trajectories, even as they enact themselves as mobile, aspiring subjects. As a condition-in-the-making, precarity is experienced and compounded, through a continuum beginning in pre-migration indebtedness, multiplying through entanglements with the migration industry, and manifesting in workplace vulnerabilities at destination. It is most finely balanced when predictability and planning yield to arbitrary hope.

scholarly journals Risk Perception in the Construction Industry: Differences Between Italian and Migrant Workers Before and After a Targeted Training Intervention

2021 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-71
Author(s):  
Federico Ricci ◽  
Giulia Bravo ◽  
Alberto Modenese ◽  
Fabrizio De Pasquale ◽  
Davide Ferrari ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Perception ◽  
Construction Industry ◽  
Migrant Workers ◽  
Construction Workers ◽  
Construction Sites ◽  
Visual Tool ◽  
Occupational Risks ◽  
Linguistic Barriers ◽  
Before And After ◽  
The Difference

We developed a visual tool to assess risk perception for a sample of male construction workers (forty Italian and twenty-eight immigrant workers), just before and after a sixteen-hour training course. The questionnaire included photographs of real construction sites, and workers were instructed to select pictograms representing the occupational risks present in each photograph. Points were awarded for correctly identifying any risks that were present, and points were deducted for failing to identify risks that were present or identifying risks that were not present. We found: (1) Before the course, risk perception was significantly lower in immigrants compared to Italians ( p < .001); (2) risk perception improved significantly ( p < .001) among all workers tested; and (3) after the training, the difference in risk perception between Italians and immigrants was no longer statistically significant ( p = .1086). Although the sample size was relatively small, the results suggest that the training is effective and may reduce the degree to which cultural and linguistic barriers hinder risk perception. Moreover, the use of images and pictograms instead of words to evaluate risk perception could also be applied to nonconstruction workplaces.

scholarly journals Current Trends of the State Regulation of International Labor Migration

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (515) ◽  
pp. 231-237
Author(s):  
V. V. Lagodiienko ◽  
◽  
O. V. Shvets ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Labor Markets ◽  
Migrant Workers ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Labor Migration ◽  
Interdisciplinary Approach ◽  
Economic Benefits ◽  
State Regulation ◽  
The State ◽  
Active Population ◽  
Regional Labor

The problem of labor migration in Ukraine has become relevant in recent years, as it significantly affects the socio-economic development of both donor and recipient countries. As a complex economic phenomenon, labor migration changes the composition of labor resources, creates a new situation in labor markets, exacerbates the demographic situation in the country. The article is concerned with the analysis of problems of labor migration of economically active population in Ukraine and aspects of formation of the State policy of regulation of migration processes. The purpose of the article is theoretical substantiation, development of scientific and methodological bases and practical recommendations aimed at improving the system of regulation of international migration of economically active population in the context of globalization in order to obtain socio-economic benefits from the State participation in migration processes, etc. In the process of detailed analysis of the characteristics of migrants, clear trends in modern migration processes have been identified: migrants mainly are from rural areas of the west of the country; migrant workers are mostly men; younger people and rural residents predominate among migrant workers; people with higher education are less likely to migrate, while people with vocational education are overrepresented among migrant workers; migrants risk losing skills, etc. The mechanism of regulation of migration flows is substantiated – as a set of measures of influence of the State bodies on migration objects in order to ensure the optimal level of migration that meets the needs of the national / regional labor market and helps stabilize the macroeconomic situation in the country / region; tasks of the mechanism are defined. Functioning and effective development of mechanisms for regulating labor migration processes, as a special tool for the transformation of regional labor markets – combines socio-cultural, research and economic functions, necessitates an interdisciplinary approach to substantiate the increase of the competitiveness of the latter. The scientific basis of this approach is the methodology of institutional analysis – a set of concepts, principles and provisions based on the theories of human, intellectual and migratory capital, institutional economics, the theory of territorial migration systems and more.

scholarly journals The Ethics of Labor Immigration Policy

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Ruhs
Keyword(s):  
Labor Markets ◽  
Immigration Policy ◽  
Migrant Workers ◽  
Labor Migration ◽  
High Income ◽  
Immigration Policies ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Temporary Migration ◽  
Trade Off ◽  
International Labor

This chapter examines the ethics of labor immigration policy, moving the discussion from a positive analysis of “what is” to the equally important normative question of “what should be.” If high-income countries' labor immigration policies are characterized by a trade-off between openness and some rights for migrant workers, the chapter asks what rights restrictions—if any—are acceptable in order to enable more workers to access labor markets in high-income countries. It proposes a pragmatic approach that takes into account existing realities in labor immigration policymaking and gives more weight to the interests of migrants and countries of origin than most high-income countries currently do when designing labor immigration policies. Based on this approach, the chapter asserts that there is a strong normative case for tolerating the selective, evidence-based, temporary restriction of a few specific migrant rights under new and expanded temporary migration programs that help liberalize international labor migration.

scholarly journals Elements of Precarious Employment in the Work of Scientifc and Pedagogical Workers

Lex Russica ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 74 (10) ◽  
pp. 36-46
Author(s):  
N. V. Chernykh
Keyword(s):  
Legal Status ◽  
General Structure ◽  
Working Hours ◽  
Legal Regulation ◽  
Educational Institutions ◽  
Precarious Employment ◽  
Social Partnership ◽  
Employment Conditions ◽  
Conditions Of Employment ◽  
Labour Regulation

The paper highlights the problem of the growth of the segment of precarious employment in the work of researchers and the faculty, who work mainly in scientific and educational institutions (scientific and pedagogical workers). Besides the elements of precarious employment characteristic of the category of workers under consideration, the author considers the fixed-term nature of labor relations and the low level of the conditionally constant part of wages in the general structure of wages of scientific and pedagogical workers, which can be attributed to the legal prerequisites for the deterioration (precarization) of their labour regulation. In addition to the acts of federal legislation regulating the labor of scientific and pedagogical workers, the author analyzes the provisions of the relevant acts of social partnership for the period from 2015 untill 2023. The author highlights the problem of increasing the types of work included by the employer in the employment of the “second half of the day” of scientific and pedagogical workers without paying additional wages. The lack of legal regulation of the distribution of types of work performed by a scientific and pedagogical worker within a 36-hour working week is also noted by the author among the legal preconditions that, with appropriate law enforcement, worsen the conditions of employment of such workers due to the significantly increasing proportion of time that workers spend on achieving performance indicators and efficiency determined by the employer. In the conclusion of the paper, the author justifies amendments to the legislation in terms of regulating a fixed-term employment contract, establishing the share of guaranteed wages in the overall structure of wages, regulating the types of work included in the working hours of scientific and pedagogical workers at the level of a by-law, which cumulatively will promote sustainability of employment conditions for employees and improve their legal status.

scholarly journals The Competency Level of Indonesian Migrant Workers in Malaysia

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (5C) ◽  
pp. 314-317
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Construction Industry ◽  
Human Resource ◽  
Migrant Workers ◽  
Construction Workers ◽  
Industry Data ◽  
Competency Level ◽  
Survey Questionnaires

Poor competency of construction workers in the construction industry is considered one of the most discouraging human resource issues in developing countries. This paper reports an investigation into the competency level of Indonesian migrant workers in the Malaysian construction industry. Data from this research was collected from the survey questionnaires with 300 Indonesian migrant workers. Results indicated that the levels of knowledge, skill and attitude among Indonesian migrant workers towards the trades in the construction industry only showed moderate levels. Suggestions for ways to overcome skill gap among Indonesian migrant workers were given in order to enhance their competency level in the construction industry.

scholarly journals Analyzing the Risk of Safety Accidents: The Relative Risks of Migrant Workers in Construction Industry

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (13) ◽  
pp. 5430
Author(s):  
Ji-Myong Kim ◽  
Kiyoung Son ◽  
Sang-Guk Yum ◽  
Sungjin Ahn
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Construction Industry ◽  
Migrant Workers ◽  
Safety Management ◽  
Construction Workers ◽  
Risk Indicators ◽  
Accident Risk ◽  
Relative Risks ◽  
Accident Data ◽  
Safety Accident

This study analyzed the relative risks of migrant workers, and identified risk factors based on quantitative data for the systematic safety management of migrant workers. Many studies have found that migrant workers are more vulnerable to safety accidents than non-migrant workers. Nevertheless, there are few quantitative studies of migrant workers’ accident-risk in the construction industry, where safety accidents are most frequent. In addition, safety management for the identified accident risk factors has not been implemented systematically. To fill the gap, this study uses safety accident data from construction sites, from the +, for the methodical safety management of migrant workers. The t-test and multiple regression analysis methods are used to define the variance in non-migrant and migrant workers, and the risk indicators, respectively. The two analyses show that the results for migrant construction workers were 2.2% higher in safety accident severity than non-migrant workers, and significant factors are also different. This study’s results will provide critical guidance for the safety management of migrant construction workers.

Gendered encounters in mobility: Women researching migrant construction workers

Ethnography ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 146613812110382
Author(s):  
Luana Gama Gato ◽  
Anna Matyska
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Harassment ◽  
Construction Industry ◽  
Knowledge Production ◽  
Migrant Workers ◽  
Construction Workers ◽  
Self Blame ◽  
Methodological Choices ◽  
Fieldwork Experience ◽  
Internal Migrants ◽  
Conducting Research

Writing about sexism and sexual harassment in the field is still generally discouraged outside gender ethnography, despite a growing gender reflexivity in research. This is mostly due to certain established norms and expectations about ethnographic work that tend to ignore how these issues contribute to women’s fieldwork experiences and subsequent ethnographic accounts. In this article, we go against this tendency by setting out our gendered experiences as female ethnographers conducting research on labor mobility in the male-dominated construction industry among Brazilian internal migrants in Rio de Janeiro and among Polish migrant workers in Europe. We foreground how gendered dynamics affected our fieldwork experience and how they generated a degree of self-doubt and self-blame about our methodological choices. Our hope is that writing about our experiences will help female ethnographers to better prepare for and consider the different kinds of sexism that will inevitably shape their knowledge production.

Living on the Construction Site: Paraguayan Construction Workers in Buenos Aires

2017 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-90 ◽  
Author(s):  
Álvaro del Águila
Keyword(s):  
Construction Industry ◽  
Metropolitan Area ◽  
Migrant Workers ◽  
Buenos Aires ◽  
Labor Relations ◽  
Construction Workers ◽  
Construction Site ◽  
Construction Sites ◽  
Ethnographic Fieldwork

Argentine enterprises subsume Paraguayan migrant workers into the construction industry in the Buenos Aires metropolitan area, subordinating them to the demands of production by temporarily housing them on the construction sites themselves. Ethnographic fieldwork carried out on various construction sites between 2006 and 2015 shows how this practice overlaps with wider processes of global transformation in labor relations. The lodging of workers on construction sites is an increasingly widespread strategy for capitalist entrepreneurs to exploit the migrant workforce even further. Las empresas argentinas han incorporado a los trabajadores migrantes paraguayos a la industria de la construcción en el área metropolitana de Buenos Aires y los han subordinado a las exigencias de la producción, alojándolos temporalmente en las obras mismas. Un trabajo de campo etnográfico realizado en varias obras entre 2006 y 2015 muestra cómo dicha práctica se entrelaza con procesos más amplios en la transformación de las relaciones laborales a nivel global. El alojamiento de los trabajadores en las obras es una estrategia cada vez más extendida para que los empresarios capitalistas puedan explotar la mano de obra migrante aún más de lo que ya hacen.

Is money always the most important thing? Polish construction workers in Ireland

2018 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 162-182 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alicja Bobek ◽  
James Wickham ◽  
Elaine Moriarty ◽  
Justyna Salamońska
Keyword(s):  
Construction Industry ◽  
Migrant Workers ◽  
Panel Study ◽  
Construction Workers ◽  
Celtic Tiger ◽  
Family Issues ◽  
Complex Picture ◽  
Economic Migration ◽  
Initial Move

Migrant workers in the construction industry are often taken to be motivated purely by short-term financial gains. The dramatic influx of Polish workers into the Irish building industry during the Celtic Tiger boom thus appears a clear case of economic migration. A qualitative panel study (2008–2013) which interviewed Polish construction workers through the boom and subsequent recession reveals a more complex picture. Migrants’ initial move to Ireland was sometimes motivated partly by non-financial concerns such as the desire for new experiences. When the construction industry crashed, many migrants did leave Ireland, but interviews with them back in Poland showed that family issues such as children’s education had been important. Many migrants remained in Ireland, sometimes facilitated by access to unemployment benefits. The Polish construction workers included some with technical and professional qualifications and these appear more likely to have stayed in Ireland. This decision often involved re-training for a new career and was motivated by new social relationships and a perceived better quality of life. These findings suggest that the issues raised by contemporary lifestyle migration are relevant even for some construction workers.

“讨薪秀”：正当权利非正式维护的实践逻辑

Rural China ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 156-179
Keyword(s):  
Popular Culture ◽  
Construction Industry ◽  
Migrant Workers ◽  
Informal Economy ◽  
Construction Workers ◽  
Social Stability ◽  
Labor Laws ◽  
Economic Practices ◽  
The Government ◽  
Self Organizing

Dramatic demonstrations to ask for back wages, especially among construction workers, have attracted much attention. This paper is intended to explore the mechanism behind these demonstrations. Government and capital have reached a kind of tacit agreement centering on informal economic practices. In the opposition between capital and migrant workers, the lack of unified labor action places the latter at a disadvantage when bargaining with the former. The informal economy and its practices have encouraged capital to delay the payment of wages and have rendered the state’s labor laws largely ineffective, leaving migrant workers little choice but to go outside the law to protest. Multilayered subcontracting in the construction industry has aggravated delays in the payment of wages and has made it more difficult for workers to obtain payment. The subsistence pressures faced by the workers in their growing proletarianization have driven them to demand payment. The state’s insistence on stability, capital’s preoccupation with “rational” profit-seeking, and the elitism that currently dominates popular culture have together shaped the form of the dramatic demonstrations. To solve this problem at its root, workers’ self-organizing to change their disadvantaged status might offer a way out—something the government should encourage and support in order to maintain social stability. This article is in English. 农民工，尤其是建筑业农民工的“讨薪秀”行为得到广泛关注。本文尝试揭示该行为背后的机理。分析发现：在转型社会这个场域中，国家和资本在“发展”的大背景下达成一种“合意”，即非正规化的经济实践；在资本和农民工的博弈中，农民工尚未联合起来形成一股足以与资本议价的力量，从而处于下风。非正规经济实践放任了资本的欠薪行为，并从根本上导致了国家劳工保护性立法对于农民工的无效性，使得农民工几乎只能进行法外维权。建筑行业的劳动分包体制加剧了其欠薪的严重性和讨薪的艰难性。农民工生存权利在日益深入的无产阶级化中受到的威胁要求他们尽可能讨回薪水。处于法律之外的讨薪方式，在国家的稳定逻辑、资本的现实理性和精英主义的大众文化的共同运作下，最终聚焦于“讨薪秀”这种方式。要从根本上改变这种境况，农民工自我组织化可作为未来考虑的方向。

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