TUCMA602 A4 MIGRANT REPORT 20/3/06 12:22 Page 3Composite
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Introduction
The TUC supports a managed migrationsystem that ensures equal rights forpeople at work regardless of whether theyare indigenous or migrant workers.However, unions face a major challengein identifying innovative methods to recruitand organise migrant workers. In 2005,the TUC initiated a number of regionalprojects to assist in this process. Thisreport presents the findings of one of theregional projects, which brought togetherthe Northern TUC, the Union ofConstruction Allied Trades and Technicians(UCATT) and Northumbria University toexamine how best to organise and recruitmigrant workers in the construction sectorin the North East of England.
Mapping Migrant Workersin the Labour Market
The influence of migrant workers withinthe UK workforce has been growingsteadily over the last ten years. Recentestimates suggest that there are nearly1,400,000 foreign nationals working in theUK (IPPR 2004)
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. This figure has beenbolstered by the accession of the Centraland Eastern European countries to theEU. The UK Government has calculatedthat approximately 330,000 migrantworkers have arrived from these countriesto work since April 2004. Around 31,000new workers have come to the North Eastto take up employment in a range ofsectors.
A Lower Wage Agenda?
The UK Government has a clear strategyemanating from its White Paper onimmigration (Home Office 2002)
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, whichcentres on an attempt to accurately assessand control migrant flows through futurepolicy. Evidence submitted to the TreasurySelect Committee in 2004 (Portes andFrench 2005)
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suggests that wages incertain sectors are either being slowed orstalled due to the entry of new migrants.A growing number of reports are alsopointing to the fact that migrant workersare suffering poor and dangerousconditions in both the workplace and intheir home lives. For the UK trade unionmovement there is an opportunity torecruit these workers, many of whom areseeking protection.
The Construction Sector
The construction sector is a key industryin Europe and one of its biggest employerswith a long history of sector migration bothat European and national levels. In theUK, a recent project – (PEMINT)
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– hasidentified that the construction sector hasa long-standing reliance on a ‘reservearmy’ of relatively cheap foreign labour.Crucially, the UK sector, compared to itsEuropean counterparts, is difficult toregulate, with self-employmentcommonplace. Alongside the employmentof people via ‘cash in hand’, the largenumbers of subcontract arrangementsenable companies or individuals to set-upbusinesses and use agency labour almostat will.
The North East Construction Sector
It has been forecast that the North Eastconstruction sector employs approximately104,800 people
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and that by 2010 this willrise to 111,800 with a consequentialnumber of key issues for the sector. Thesector itself is the most insular in Englandwith a high level of intra-regional mobility.
Migrant Worker Experiencesin the North East
Using a questionnaire and action-basedresearch methodological approach theproject identified seven main areas forconcern for migrant workers in the sector.
Accommodation;
a number of workerswere living in low standard property ownedby employers, with some workers sleepingon the floor.
Bank accounts;
many workers identifiedthat they could not get bank accountsbecause employers would not provideappropriate information, including rentbooks and letters confirming employment.
Conditions of employment;
the projectuncovered a number of issues in this areaincluding migrant workers not receivingwage slips or having contracts ofemployment. Many were working belowthe UCATT negotiated sector rates andwere in need of assistance.
Employer hostility;
two employers inparticular were openly hostile to migrantworkers and the project team, withviolence used in both cases. In oneexample, employer violence led to a walkout of Polish workers, although UCATTwas able to negotiate a satisfactory return
Organising
Migrant Workers
in Construction
Experience from the North East of England
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Executive Summary
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IPPR (2004)
Labour Migration to the UK – An IPPR Factfile,
The Institute for Public Policy Research, June 2004.
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Home Office (2002)
Secure Borders, Safe Haven: Integration with Diversity in Modern Britain,
Cm5487, The Stationery Office: London.
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Portes, J. and French, S. (2005)
The impact of the free movement of workers from central and eastern Europe on the UK labour market: Early evidence,
Department forWork and Pensions working paper 18, 2005.
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The PEMINT project (2001-2004) was funded under the EU 5th Framework Programme and investigated the recruitment decisions of companies in the sector.Its main findings can be found in
Organisational Recruitment and Patterns of Migration: Interdependencies in an Integrating Europe,
special issue of IMIS-Beiträge editedby Michael Bommes, Kirsten Hoesch, Uwe Hunger and Holger Kolb, 25, December 2004.
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ConstructionSkills (2005)
The CITB-ConstructionSkills Employment and Training Forecasting Model: Draft Forecasts for the North East,
CITB-ConstructionSkills, Oct. 2005.
Notes
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