From severe to routine labour exploitation: The case of migrant workers in the UK food industry

an article by Jon Davies (The University of Manchester, UK) pubvlished in Criminology & Criminal Justice  Volume 19 Issue 3 (July 2019)

Abstract

The issue of exploitative labour practices against migrant workers has been well established in previous work. Yet most research and policy focus on severe forms of exploitation, including types of ‘modern slavery’ such as human trafficking and forced labour. Research has paid less attention to ‘routine’ labour abuses that are less extreme than severe exploitation, but which are still exploitative or harmful.

This article argues that a stronger emphasis is needed on routine labour exploitation, which risks being overlooked when contrasted with severe exploitation. Drawing on a qualitative study of migrant labour in the UK food industry, the article demonstrates that workers experience a range of mistreatment in the workplace, which is unlikely to fall within the scope of severe exploitation and remit of ‘criminal justice’ interventions.

In order to achieve full ‘labour justice’, more consistent attention is needed on these routine and banal practices, not just the most brutal.

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More migrant workers needed to offset ageing population, says IMF

an article by Richard Partington published in the Guardian

Fund’s report advises advanced economies against greater controls on migration


Annual EU migration to Britain fell by 75,000 in the year to September, according to ONS figures. Photograph: David Wootton/Alamy

The International Monetary Fund has said advanced economies such as Britain, the US and Japan risk being overwhelmed by their ageing populations, and calls on them to throw open their borders to more migrant workers in response.

Within the next few decades, working-age adults will need to support double the number of elderly people than they do now, putting immense pressure on welfare systems and wiping out as much as 3% of potential economic output by 2050, the IMF said in its latest World Economic Outlook report.

The Fund’s comments come as the number of migrant workers arriving in Britain from Europe is already in sharp decline following the Brexit vote almost two years ago, and as populist parties in many western countries push their governments to curb immigration.

The analytical chapters of its report, published on Monday, said: “Dramatic shifts in demographic structure projected in advanced economies could overwhelm the ability of policies to offset the forces of ageing.

“[This] underscores the need to rethink migration policies to boost labor supply in advanced economies.”

Without government intervention, the IMF said the current labour force participation rate, which estimates the number of people eligible for work who are in employment, could fall by as much as 5.5% on average across advanced economies over the next 30 years.

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I wish I could find the graph I saw a while back which showed clearly how the number of people in the working population was declining as people passed from working to retired.

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Does union membership benefit immigrant workers in ‘hard times’?

an article by Thomas Turner and Christine Cross (University of Limerick, Ireland) published in Journal of Industrial Relations Volume 56 Number 5 (November 2014)

Abstract

Immigrants experience many obstacles in obtaining jobs with comparable pay and conditions to native workers. Arguably, unionisation could offer migrant workers the mechanism to obtain better pay and conditions.

This paper examines whether migrant workers have benefited from unionisation in terms of pay, pensions and health insurance in Ireland.

Based on a large-scale national survey, we find that union membership delivers a modest wage premium of a relatively similar magnitude to both nationals and immigrant workers. Unionised immigrants are twice as likely as non-unionised immigrants to earn above the median hourly earnings and have greater pension coverage.

In particular, immigrants from the new accession states in the European Union, with the lowest mean hourly earnings of any immigrant group, gain the most from union membership.

Nonetheless, Irish nationals enjoy greater benefits from membership than immigrant workers. Addressing this discrepancy will require a greater focus by unions on organising immigrant workers.

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Unions, learning, migrant workers and union revitalization in Britain

an article by Stephen Mustchin (University of Manchester, UK) published in Work Employment & Society Volume 26 Number 6 (December 2012)

Abstract

This article focuses on strategies adopted by British trade unions to promote education to their members and their impact on attempts to organise among migrant workers.

The relationship between this activity and broader debates around union revitalisation is analysed, particularly in terms of how union involvement in learning intersects with broader organising and community focused union activity. A diverse range of approaches to education provision for migrant workers can be identified from this research.

The influence of internal union politics on attempts to organize migrant workers, work in conjunction with state policy and improve access to education among their members is also analysed.

The study highlights a diverse range of outcomes, raising important issues regarding union organising strategies and their relationship to union provision of education for their memberships.

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