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Welfare Systems, Social Inclusion and Migrant Worker-Union Relations in the EU

Dr Heather Connolly and Professor Miguel Martinez Lucio University of Manchester ESRC Seminar on Migrant Workers’ in the Global Economy, Thursday September 2nd 2010, International Slavery Museum, Liverpool, UK. Welfare Systems, Social Inclusion and Migrant Worker-Union Relations in the EU.

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Welfare Systems, Social Inclusion and Migrant Worker-Union Relations in the EU

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  1. Dr Heather Connolly and Professor Miguel Martinez Lucio University of Manchester ESRC Seminar on Migrant Workers’ in the Global Economy, Thursday September 2nd 2010, International Slavery Museum, Liverpool, UK Welfare Systems, Social Inclusion and Migrant Worker-Union Relations in the EU

  2. Social Inclusion, Unions and Migration: Research Outline • 3 year comparative project, 2008-2011: funded by the Leverhulme Trust • Development of trade union responses in relation to immigration • Comparing the Netherlands, Spain, and the UK • Challenges of finding a common language at the EU level

  3. Issues around Immigration • Labour market issues • Traditional patterns of migration: problem of segregation and exclusion • Disorganisation and deregulation of labour markets • New waves of migration: EU enlargement and continuous cycles of migration and mobility • New forms of racism and xenophobia • Language of social inclusion and cohesion

  4. Why Trade Unions? • Trade unions voice for worker discontent • Ambivalent history in relation to migrant workers • Union responses and differences in welfare regimes • Variation remains • Rights are understood and responded to in different ways • From ambivalence to complexity

  5. Comparing Welfare Systems • UK • Tradition of voluntarism and deregulation but socio-legal context supports equality • Union responses around organising/learning/anti-racism campaigns • The Netherlands • Welfare state protection and tripartism frames responses and has created institutionalised approach • Increasing support for organising in the union movement • Spain • Only recently a country of immigration • Unions prioritised organising and protecting conditions of migrant workers • Support for regularisation campaigns and amnesties • Created worker centres for migrants (CITEs)

  6. Responses Across Countries • National cases show different experiences and challenges • UK: How can unions supplement organising and learning to develop stronger territorial structures and community links? • The Netherlands: How to complement and reinforce the institutional approach with a local labour market facing approach? • Spain: How to deal with issues of discrimination and racism within a discourse of class and political based union identity? • Trade unions faced with increasingly complex and sensitive set of issues • Problems coordinating responses across countries • Search for common language and frameworks at the EU level

  7. Creating Consensus and Common Strategy at the EU Level • European Trade Union Confederation: • Case study: ‘Trade unions without borders’ • ‘Workplace Europe’: project to gather information and stimulate common responses for ETUC congress 2011 – ‘finding and sharing good practice’ – response as technique • Challenges: • Understandings of the issues: • E.g. Unions supporting transitional restrictions with enlargement • Different stages of the debate on immigration within unions • Institutional structure of the EU • Funding issues: short-term reliant on EU funding • Directorates: JLS versus Employment • Human resource limitations and trust relations • Limits of ‘Euro-unionism’ • Dynamic of consensus rather than resistance – Hyman’s concern with ambassadorial approaches • Fragmented approach

  8. The Road to Social Inclusion in the European Union • Ethical turn towards ‘social inclusion’ • Combating poverty and exclusion • Policies centred around integration through employment especially supply side dimension • Anti-discrimination and equal opportunities • Obvious links between social inclusion-immigration debates However- • Social inclusion policies sit uncomfortably alongside EU focus on immigration restrictions, border control and security • Immigration: Justice, Liberty, and Security issue

  9. Language of EU Policy Level Responses – Framing New Templates of Action • Policy responses: the use of binaries and terminology • Legal/illegal migrants (documented/undocumented; regular/irregular etc) • Political/economic migrants • BME/non-BME migrants (questions of identity and race discrimination) • Responses framed under issues of: • Race and discrimination - Equality and diversity • Social inclusion and exclusion - Cohesion and inclusion • Vulnerability and decent work – the fairness agenda • Politics surrounding responses at both a national and European level • - Forging common terminology and templates • - ‘De-racialising’ (and de-politicising) the debate

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