Protecting the Rights of Temporary Migrant Workers : Ideals versus Reality

2016 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Migrant Workers ◽  
Temporary Migrant

Inter‐ethnic and labour‐community coalitions in class struggle in Taiwan since the advent of temporary immigration

2008 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 482-496 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Tierney
Keyword(s):  
Support Groups ◽  
Migrant Workers ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
Class Struggle ◽  
Community Coalitions ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Labour Unions ◽  
Illegal Migrants ◽  
Temporary Migrant ◽  
Temporary Migrants

PurposeThis paper aims to analyse the class dimensions of racism in Taiwan against temporary migrant workers and migrants' efforts to build inter‐ethnic and labour‐community coalitions in struggle against racism.Design/methodology/approachAn important source of data for this study were the unstructured interview. Between September 2000 and December 2005, more than 50 temporary migrants and their support groups in Taiwan were interviewed, specifically about migrants' experiences of racism and their resistance strategies. These interviews were conducted face‐to‐face, sometimes with the assistance of translators. Between 2001 and 2007, some 70 people were interviewed by telephone, between Australia and Taiwan.FindingsIn Taiwan, temporary migrants suffer the racism of exploitation in that capital and the state “racially” categorize them as suitable only for the lowest paid and least appealing jobs. Migrants also suffer neglect by and exclusion from the labour unions. However, migrants have succeeded, on occasions, in class mobilization by building powerful inter‐ethnic ties as well as coalitions with some labor unions, local organizations and human rights lobbies.Research limitations/implicationsThe research raises implications for understanding the economic, social and political conditions which influence the emergence of inter‐ethnic bonds and labour‐community coalitions in class struggle.Practical implicationsThe research will contribute to a greater appreciation among Taiwan's labour activists of the real subordination of temporary migrant labour to capital and of the benefits of supporting migrants' mobilization efforts. These benefits can flow not only to migrants but also to the labour unions.Originality/valueA significant body of academic literature has recently emerged on temporary and illegal migrants' efforts to engage the union movements of industrialized host countries. There is a dearth, however, of academic research on the capacity of temporary migrants to invigorate union activism in Asia, including Taiwan.

It Takes a Village: Civil Society Regulation of Employment Standards for Temporary Migrant Workers in Australian Horticulture

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Clibborn
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Migrant Workers ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Farm Workers ◽  
System Level ◽  
Temporary Migrant ◽  
Employment Standards ◽  
State Employment ◽  
The Commons ◽  
Migrant Farm

How can civil society actors address regulatory deficiencies in complex systems? The challenge of regulating employment standards in non-unionised industries is shared by many developed countries. In industries like horticulture, violation of minimum employment standards for vulnerable temporary migrant workers is widespread and state employment regulators struggle to enforce laws. This article examines the challenge at a system level incorporating a range of civil society stakeholders. It conceptualises a regional town and its surrounding horticulture-dependent economy and society as a complex system in which stakeholders face the challenge of reputational damage among temporary migrant farm workers, threatening future labour supply. This ‘tragedy of the commons’ was created by some stakeholders acting solely in their individual interests by underpaying and otherwise mistreating the workers. Using a qualitative approach including 30 interviews, focusing on a single farming region in Queensland, Australia, this article identifies the conditions in which civil society stakeholders in a horticulture system regulate employment standards through orienting and connecting with one another to advance both individual and shared interests.

“It’s better I’m dead”: oppression and suicidal ideation

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Reber
Keyword(s):  
Suicidal Ideation ◽  
Host Country ◽  
Migrant Workers ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Environmental Context ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Temporary Migrant ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
First Time

Purpose Anecdotal accounts of suicide among temporary low-wage migrant workers in the UAE are numerous, but unofficial and qualitative accounts remain unexplored. This study aims to examine how the socio-environmental context can lead some low-wage migrants, irrespective of their nationality or culture, to contemplate suicide for the first time after arriving in the host country. Design/methodology/approach The findings draw from ten months of qualitative fieldwork (2015–2016) and in-depth interviews conducted with 44 temporary migrant workers from sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, earning in the lowest wage bracket in Dubai. The study used a non-probabilistic, purposive sampling approach to select participants. Three criteria drove eligibility: participants had to reside in the UAE, be non-national and earn Dh1500 (US$408) or less a month. Otherwise, diversity was sought in regard to nationality, occupation and employer. Findings Eight (18%) of the 44 study participants interviewed admitted to engaging in suicidal thoughts for the first time after arriving in the UAE. The findings suggest that for low-wage migrants working in certain socio-environmental contexts, the religious, gendered or other cultural or group characteristics or patterns that may be predictors of suicide in migrants’ country of origin may become secondary or possibly even irrelevant when one is forced to survive under conditions that by most objective standards would be deemed not only oppressive but extremely exploitative and abusive. Originality/value This study contributes to understandings of how the emotional and psychological well-being of temporary foreign low-wage migrant workers can be impacted by the socio-environmental context of the host country. It is a first step in understanding the intimate thoughts of low-wage migrant workers on the topic of suicidality, furthering our understanding of suicidal ideation and the factors that can contribute to it.

Conclusion

2019 ◽  
pp. 110-120
Author(s):  
Leah F. Vosko
Keyword(s):  
Migrant Workers ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Agricultural Worker ◽  
Work Program ◽  
Incremental Change ◽  
Migration Management ◽  
Legal Case ◽  
Temporary Migrant ◽  
Migrant Work

This concluding chapter reflects on the significance of the legal case of the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program (SAWP) employeess at Sidhu & Sons for expanding understandings of the meaning of deportability and its applicability to temporary migrant work program (TMWP) participants laboring not only in Canada but also in other relatively high-income host states embracing migration management and the measures it prescribes. Obstacles to limiting deportability writ large will persist so long as migration management dominates paradigmatically. Nevertheless, in combination with the forward-looking organizing efforts already being undertaken by unions and worker centers, in areas where unionization is difficult to achieve partly because of the still-dominant Wagnerian-styled model of unionization, certain modest interventions in policy and practice hold promise in forging change and curbing deportability among temporary migrant workers. Because the foregoing case study focused on the SAWP, the alternatives outlined in this chapter primarily address this TMWP. Given, however, that the SAWP is often touted as a model of migration management, they seek to provide meaningful avenues toward incremental change in other TMWPs in Canada and elsewhere.

Unfair Dismissal Law and Temporary Migrant Labour in Australia

2018 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-48
Author(s):  
Joanna Howe ◽  
Laurie Berg ◽  
Bassina Farbenblum
Keyword(s):  
Migrant Workers ◽  
Job Security ◽  
Employment Law ◽  
Migrant Labour ◽  
Legal Remedies ◽  
Temporary Migrant ◽  
Unfair Dismissal ◽  
Federal Jurisdiction

Increasing attention is being given to the exploitation of temporary migrant workers in Australia, in particular in relation to wage underpayments. But very little focus has been given to the ability of temporary migrant workers to access legal remedies under Australian employment law. This article examines whether temporary migrant workers are able to make and pursue a claim for unfair dismissal within the federal jurisdiction. As unfair dismissal law seeks to protect job security and provides an essential check on managerial prerogative, it is important that temporary migrant workers are able to access this legal avenue to protect them from arbitrary dismissal. We argue there are serious deficiencies in the application, coverage and content of federal unfair dismissal law in relation to temporary migrant workers in Australia.

Meeting Australia's Labour Needs: The Case for a New Low-Skill Work Visa

2015 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 259-287 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joanna Howe ◽  
Alexander Reilly
Keyword(s):  
Working Conditions ◽  
Migrant Workers ◽  
International Student ◽  
Skilled Workers ◽  
Migrant Labour ◽  
Temporary Migrant ◽  
Migration Program ◽  
Temporary Labour Migration ◽  
Skill Shortages ◽  
Skilled Migrant

This article examines whether Australia's regulatory settings for temporary migrant labour are working effectively and argues that a backdoor currently exists which permits the entry of low skilled migrant workers on visas which are not for a work purpose, namely the international student visa and the working holiday maker visa. We propose that an explicit visa pathway be created for low and semi-skilled workers so that the working conditions of these visa holders are more appropriately monitored and to enable Australia's temporary labour migration program to better meet skill shortages in the economy.

The Role of the State in the Globalisation of Labour Markets: The Case of the Philippines

1997 ◽  
Vol 29 (9) ◽  
pp. 1603-1628 ◽  
Author(s):  
R Ball
Keyword(s):  
Migrant Workers ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
The State ◽  
Labour Markets ◽  
Regulatory Function ◽  
Export Policy ◽  
Role Of The State ◽  
Temporary Migrant ◽  
New Development ◽  
State Sponsor

The burgeoning literature on ‘globalisation’ tends to identify it as an economic and cultural process, paying little attention to the associated restructuring of the state. Not only does the state sponsor globalisation, but also it ‘globalises' itself in the process. Perhaps the most significant dimension of this new development is where labour markets are integrated with global capital circuits under state sanction. The systematic and state-promoted export of temporary migrant workers has transformed the Philippine state, economy, and society. In this paper I examine the globalisation of labour from the Philippines in terms of its magnitude, its historical development, and its impact on restructuring state functions. I argue that the shift of attention on the part of the state to maintaining the economic functions of international labour circuits tends to undermine its national regulatory function thereby compromising the broad legitimacy of the state. These propositions are examined through a case study of the structuring of the Filipino state in pursuing its well-known labour-export policy.

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