The posting of workers in the German construction industry: responses and problems of trade union action

2006 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 183-196 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcus Kahmann
Keyword(s):  
Labour Market ◽  
Construction Industry ◽  
Trade Union ◽  
Migrant Workers ◽  
Labour Migration ◽  
Autonomous Action ◽  
Eu Member States ◽  
Union Action ◽  
Construction Union ◽  
State Relations

Over the last two decades, in a number of EU Member States labour migration in the construction industry has predominantly taken the form of the posting of workers. This article traces the responses of the German construction union IG BAU to this phenomenon. To this end, it distinguishes between three levels of action: relations with the state, relations with employers and autonomous action. It shows that the union's efforts have concentrated on the first two levels. IG BAU's steps to include migrant workers into its ranks have been taken only cautiously. While the union has achieved a number of successes in terms of regulating the labour market, limits of these policies have become apparent. There are signs that IG BAU has reacted to these limits by developing more inclusive organisational policies, notably by founding the European Migrant Workers Union.

Cross-border labour markets and the role of trade unions in representing migrant workers’ interests

2020 ◽  
Vol 62 (2) ◽  
pp. 235-255
Author(s):  
Adrien Thomas
Keyword(s):  
Labour Market ◽  
Migrant Workers ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Organizational Structures ◽  
Labour Markets ◽  
Labour Migration ◽  
Organizational Dynamics ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Survey Results

New patterns of labour migration are reshaping labour markets and raising new challenges for labour market actors, especially trade unions. This article critically discusses unionization strategies targeting migrant workers and the political and organizational dilemmas involved, taking as an example the case of Luxembourg, a founding member of the European Union with a highly internationalized labour market. Relying on qualitative research and survey results, this article sets out the strategies adopted by trade unions to unionize migrant workers, before discussing the dilemmas and tensions related to the diversification of trade union policies and organizational structures in response to labour migration. It provides valuable insights into two broader issues: the socio-political and organizational dynamics involved in trade unions’ inclusion of migrant workers and the potential role of trade unions in building transnational links and cohesion in border regions.

Some thoughts about migration of maritime workers in the eighteenth-century North Sea region

2015 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 647-661 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jelle van Lottum
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
Labour Market ◽  
North Sea ◽  
Migrant Workers ◽  
Labour Migration ◽  
Economic Sector ◽  
Migrant Population ◽  
Key Aspects ◽  
Qualitative Changes

This article discusses some key aspects of labour migration in the eighteenth-century maritime labour market, focussing in particular on the changes that occurred over the course of the century and their effect on receiving and sending economies. These changes consisted not only of a marked expansion in the number of migrant workers engaged in the maritime sector; the characteristics of the migrant population were significantly altered as well. The article argues that the quantitative and qualitative changes in the maritime labour market caused the effects of migration in this important economic sector to change substantially throughout the century, having an impact on both the sending and receiving regions.

scholarly journals The Impact of Remittances of Ukrainian Migrants on the Stabilisation of the Economy During the Covid Crisis

2021 ◽  
pp. 99-114
Author(s):  
Iryna Gerlach ◽  
Lilia Ukraynets
Keyword(s):  
Migrant Workers ◽  
Foreign Currency ◽  
Human Mobility ◽  
Labour Migration ◽  
Human Potential ◽  
Eu Member States ◽  
Poverty And Inequality ◽  
International Labour Migration ◽  
Migrant Remittances ◽  
The Impact

International labour migration is a global process that has affected the populations of all countries and continents. Today, migrants face a new additional barrier – the COVID-19 pandemic, which has drastically affected all forms of human mobility. Today, labour-based migration from Ukraine is directed mainly to EU Member States. The main motives for international labour migration is the potential of earning money, financial security of the family etc. Accordingly, the consequence of international migration is the inflow of money into the country of migrant origin. Remittances from migrant workers are an important source of income for Ukraine. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been an increase in migrant remittances, contributing to the development of households, human potential, the reduction of poverty and inequality, and the inflow of foreign currency. This article proposes an econometric model of the impact of migrant remittances on the stabilisation of the country’s economy during the pandemic. As a result of the calculations, it was found that the income from people working abroad initially reduces the deviation of GDP from the equilibrium trend, but over time there is a clear procyclical impact. This feature is favourable for the Ukrainian economy and may mean that migrant transfers in times of crisis help to overcome the effects of global economic downturns.

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 Some Useful Sources

2017 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 693-698
Author(s):  
Don Flynn
Keyword(s):  
Labour Market ◽  
Trade Union ◽  
Migrant Workers ◽  
List Type ◽  
Type Number ◽  
Undocumented Migrant ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Migrant Community ◽  
Forced Labour

Networks and projects around the theme of migrants in the labour market can be discussed under the following headings: 1.Trade union-based initiatives2.Migrant community-based initiatives3.Issues of acknowledged concern that generate national responses (forced labour, trafficked workers, undocumented migrant workers, etc.).

‘Equal Rights for all Workers’: Irish Trade Unions and the Challenge of Labour Migration

2007 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-61 ◽  
Author(s):  
Torben Krings
Keyword(s):  
Trade Union ◽  
Migrant Workers ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Labour Migration ◽  
Equal Rights ◽  
Documentary Analysis ◽  
Self Interest ◽  
Labour Standards ◽  
Economic Boom

Labour migration to Ireland is a fairly recent phenomenon. It takes place largely in reponse to ‘Ireland's call’ for additional labour to sustain the economic boom. The inflow of migrant workers has significantly transformed the Irish workforce. This article examines how Irish trade unions respond to this challenge. In drawing on qualitative interviews mainly with trade union officials as well as documentary analysis, I show that unions promote a rights-based approach to immigration. This is done not only for ideological reasons (workers' solidarity and opposition to exploitation) but also self-interest. From a trade union perspective, migrants who enjoy the same rights as Irish workers and who become integrated in the workplace and wider society are less likely to undermine labour standards.

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.

scholarly journals Migrant workers trapped between individualism and collectivism: The formation of union-based workplace collectivism

2020 ◽  
pp. 0143831X2096741
Author(s):  
Bjarke Refslund ◽  
Markku Sippola
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
Labour Market ◽  
Host Country ◽  
Migrant Workers ◽  
Labour Migration ◽  
Reference Groups ◽  
Problem Perception ◽  
Individualism And Collectivism ◽  
Market Strategies ◽  
Shared Problem

Transnational labour migration challenges collectivism as well as migrant workers’ labour market rights, due to employers’ strategies such as segregating workers, and the migrant workers’ individualistic strategies. This article, arguing that there are no intrinsic impediments to creating (instrumental) collectivist solutions encompassing both migrants and host-country workers, develops a dynamic, conceptual framework of four preconditions – workers’ closeness, feeling of unity, shared problem perception and reference groups – which are necessary for migrant workers to develop collective labour market strategies. The article then utilises the framework in three empirical cases to illustrate how the framework, combined with union strategies, helps explain the different degrees of migrant workers’ labour market inclusion and to help understand why gaps between migrant workers and host-country workers may form.

scholarly journals Nature of the EU Labour Market and Its Regulations

Pro Futuro ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Moe Thazin Khaing
Keyword(s):  
Labour Market ◽  
Migrant Workers ◽  
Labour Migration ◽  
Labour Market Policies ◽  
Active Labour Market Policies ◽  
Active Labour ◽  
The World ◽  
Labour Legislation ◽  
The Eu

The labour market can also make the process of the labour migration easy and protect the rights of the workers with some restrictions. This paper especially focuses on the role of the labour market regulations relating to the migrant workers in EU. However, general labour market regulations have been expressed in the first chapter. When we talk about the labour market, the regulations will be assessed as to whether they are strong or not and to what extent the workers will get their rights protected. EU labour migration is large around the world and can be handled with labour legislation and the labour market. Therefore, EU labour market regulations and policies, especially active labour market policies, are mainly expressed in this paper.

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