Out of sight, out of mind: the exploitation of migrant workers in 21st-century Britain

an article by Mick Wilkinson published in Journal of Poverty and Social Justice Volume 20 Number 1 (February 2012)

Abstract

Over the past decade, a team at the University of Hull has undertaken four separate but linked research projects investigating the working and living conditions of migrant workers in the United Kingdom (UK). Those studies drew on the experiences of a broad range of service providers – national and local, statutory and voluntary – all of whom had regular interaction with vulnerable workers or their advocates, together with the testimonies of several hundred migrant workers who had themselves experienced or witnessed employment (and related accommodation) exploitation in gangmaster UK.

The findings, summarised here, are an indictment of British government indifference to the exploitation of the migrant workforce.

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