To Whom Do I Turn When I Am Invisible The Experiences of

Ethnic and Racial Studies
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To whom do I turn when I am invisible? The experiences of

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Kurdish workers with problems at work
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Journal: Ethnic and Racial Studies
Manuscript ID: RERS-2009-0195
Manuscript Type: Original Manuscript

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Keywords: Kurdish, employment, ethnicity, identity, work, community

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URL: http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/rers ethnic@surrey.ac.uk

Page 1 of 26 Ethnic and Racial Studies
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5 To whom do I turn when I am invisible?
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8 The experiences of Kurdish workers with problems at
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11 work
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13 Key words: Kurdish, employment, ethnicity, identity, work,
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17 Abstract
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19 Little is known about the experiences of Kurdish workers in the UK and even
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21 less about how they attempt to resolve any difficulties or problems that arise
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24 at work. In part, this is due to academic oversight, but also because Kurdish
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26 workers are difficult to identify from statistical data. The paper explores the
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28 influence of identity, community and social networks on workers’ ability to
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31 find resolution to problems work with a particular focus on Kurdish workers
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33 in north London. The paper considers the classification of Kurds – an issue
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35 that is inextricably linked to the politics of nationalism in the disputed area
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38 of Kurdistan. Then follows a brief history of Kurdish migration to the UK and
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40 the impact that has had on settlement patterns. The paper will then draw
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42 upon interview data to hear the experiences of people living and working in
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45 this ‘invisible’ community.
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48 Introduction
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50 While there has been a considerable amount of research on ‘visible’ ethnic
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53 groups in the UK looking at issues of racism, nationalism, ethnicity, religion
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55 and gender, there is much less on ‘non-visible’ minority ethnic groups. The
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history of migration in the UK context has largely focused on that of non-
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60 white migration – where the effect of ‘race’ and racism has been the
significant factor in much ethnicity-based research. A consequence of this is
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Ethnic and Racial Studies Page 2 of 26
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4 that newer migrant communities like Kurds, are under-researched and little
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is known about the social and economic factors affecting workers in the
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9 Kurdish communities (for exceptions see Enneli, 2002, Enneli et al., 2005,
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11 Jordon and Düvell, 2002). Further, official data, like the Census and the
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Labour Force Survey, renders Kurds ‘invisible’ as they are classified as
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16 ‘white’. While this is sub-divided into various ethnic or national groups,
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18 most Kurds are classified as ‘white other’. Kurds are therefore less visible
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than other ‘white’ groups such as Irish, Welsh or Eastern Europeans.
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23 Moreover, and more politically sensitive, is that survey questions relating to
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25 nationality provide Kurds with little option other than to define themselves
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as Turkish, Iraqi, Iranian, or Syrian. As such, the Kurdish identity is not only
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30 subsumed under an ethnic categorisation that does not distinguish from
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32 other minority ethnic groups, but it also imposes upon them an unacceptable
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national identity (Vali, 1998, Reilly, 1991). As one writer notes, this has led to
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a situation where ‘not only has Kurdish origin been masked prior to leaving
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39 Turkey…it is also hidden from the moment of arrival on foreign soil’ (Laiser,
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1996: 127).
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46 Overall, most commentators agree that there is little comprehensive
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statistical data on the Kurdish population in the UK and that which exists is
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51 ‘conflated and confused’ (King et al., 2008). The local authorities of Hackney
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53 and Haringeyi, using anecdotal data, estimate the figures to be around
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25,000 and 30,000 respectively, but it is acknowledged that these are
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58 estimates rather than accurate figures. Despite a long period of Kurdish
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60 settlement in the UK, local and national authorities are still unable to assess
the number of Kurds and are unable to and plan service provision
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4 accordingly (King et al., 2008). The exclusion of Kurds from the Census and
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other data sets means that there is no information on issues such as
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9 employment, health care, education and political participation. Leaders
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11 within the Kurdish communities have thus been lobbying local and national
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governments to introduce ‘Kurd’ as separate ethnic category on the Census in
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16 order to rectify this problem. It has now been acknowledged that official
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18 data has led to groups like Kurds becoming ‘invisible’ to the authorities:
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21 The national identity question may also provide some scope for
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23 disaggregating ethnic categories such as ‘African’ or ‘Pakistani’ or for
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26 identifying groups that span states for example Kurdish. One local
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28 authority stated that ‘National identity data would greatly improve
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30 our understanding of the composition of, for example, the ‘Other
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33 White’ ethnic grouping…and, for example, Somalis within the Black
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35 African category.’ Another consultation respondent commented that
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37 ‘National Identity may identify significant groups in the UK which

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40 have not been recognised effectively in the past, for example, Kurds.
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42 [This information] could provide a rich dataset to complement
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44 country of birth since it is how people view themselves rather than a

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47 fact e.g. a person born in Turkey might rather write in Kurdish than
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49 Turkish or British. (Office for National Statistics, 2008: 14)
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54 A consequence of the lack of data is that it has an impact on the
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56 information, advice and guidance provided by national and local
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58 governments, as well as voluntary sector organisations. The communities
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have responded to this lack of assistance by setting up community
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4 organisations to provide Kurds with support and advice, but little is known
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about how these operate in the context of support for work related issues.
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9 This paper considers the role that different organisations (formal and
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11 informal) play in promoting social inclusion, exploring whether these
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contribute to the collective empowerment and/or individual representation
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16 of workers. Instead of assuming pre-existing communities, the research
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18 explores how Kurdish workers construct notions of community. The role of
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age, class, gender, ‘race’, beliefs and values in articulating different, stable
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23 and fluctuating forms of community is explored and we examine how
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25 Kurdish workers construct commonality and community in the process of

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obtaining support for problems at work through their lived experience.
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30 Before exploring our findings we provide a brief explanation of the causes of
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32 Kurdish migration to the UK and the establishment of local communities in
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north London.
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38 Kurdish migration and the development of communities and social
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40 networks in the UK
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Over 30 million Kurds live in Kurdistan under the national jurisdictions of
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45 Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria, where these nations have denied Kurds their
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47 identity, culture, homeland and own political representation by the force of
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arms (Vali, 1998). The combination of authoritarian, nationalistic and/or
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52 religious ideology and state power in Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria has led to
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54 Kurdish opposition in these states which has developed differently in
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response to the nationalisms it has opposed. A consequence has been a
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59 forced migration, leading many Kurds to seek asylum in countries around
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the world (van Bruinessen, 1999). People from the disputed territory of
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4 Kurdistan have been arriving in the UK since the 1950s, many of them
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settling in the north London boroughs of Hackney and Haringey. The
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9 majority who have arrived in the UK since the late 1980s are from northern
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11 Kurdistanii (Turkish occupied Kurdistan) and have migrated as a result of the
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war between the Kurdish workers party (PKK) and the Turkish state.
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18 Today, Hackney and Haringey in north London have become the main
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areas for expatriate Kurds from northern Kurdistan and there is a large
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23 Kurdish community living, working and socialising in these north London
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25 boroughs. The early migrations of Kurds from Maras arrived in Hackney and
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established restaurants and supermarkets in this area because of the low rent
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30 and cheap housing, resulting in later waves of migrants choosing to settle
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32 where they had kinship links. Furthermore when Kurdish migrants from
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northern Kurdistan first arrived in the UK, they largely settled within the
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Turkish Cypriot communities of north London. Turkish Cypriots arrived in
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39 the UK in the 1940s first as economic migrants and later in the 1960s as a
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result of the ethnic conflict between Greek and Turkish Cypriots (for
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44 background on this see Enneli et al., 2005, King and Bridal, 1982, Thomson
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46 et al., 2006). This ‘integration’ between the Turkish Cypriots and Kurds in
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the UK was as a result of the fact that both communities were able to speak
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51 Turkish. Consequently, Turks and Kurds established a number of joint
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53 institutions, which tended to be left-leaning or Turkish-oriented. However,
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in recent years, due to the Kurdish political struggle for being recognised in
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58 Turkey, the growth and establishment of the Kurdish community in London,
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60 Kurds have begun to assert their own particular identity and independence.
Today, in the UK, we can see a transformation – at least within the
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4 communities themselves – of the situation where Turks and Kurds were
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collectively referred to as ‘Turkish speaking communities’ to a situation
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9 where the communities have reorganised into more distinctive Kurdish and
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11 Turkish communities.
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16 All along the local high streets that follow the A10 through Hackney
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18 and Haringey are Kurdish shops and businesses – cafes, coffee shops,
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groceries, bakeries, fruit and vegetable stores, hairdressers, pool halls, flower
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23 shops and the ubiquitous kebab shops. Walking down these streets it is
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25 almost possible to imagine yourself in a different country as you listen to the

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languages and the hustle and bustle of this distinct community. As Enneli et
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30 al have noted; ‘the Turkish speaking community is probably one of the most
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32 self-sufficient communities in London with half a dozen local community-
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based newspapers, together with Turkish [and Kurdish] television channels
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and countless digital radio channels (Enneli et al., 2005: viii). The
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39 community’s self-sufficiency also extends to its social and cultural activities,
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evidenced from the number of locally run community organisations. The first
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44 Kurdish community centre was established in 1982 in Haringey and, in

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46 Hackney, Kurdish and Turkish refugees established their first community
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centre, Halkevi, in 1984. As a result of the second wave of Kurdish refugees,
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51 which started in 1983 when the war against Kurds in Turkey and in northern
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53 Kurdistan began, this changed the structure of Halkevi from a Turkish
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community centre to Kurdish and Turkish community centre and ‘the
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58 [Kurdish] identity become more dominant’ (Author B, 2006). Halkevi, the
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60 Kurdish Advice Centre (established since 1988) and Kurdish community
Centre (established since 1982) are the three most high profile organisations
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4 in Hackney and Haringey that provide support for Kurdish and Turkish
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refugees who have fled oppression. In addition, there are growing numbers
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9 of Kurdish housing associations, cultural centres, and women’s organisations
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11 providing a wide range of advice and services.
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16 However, behind the façade of this seemingly self-sufficient and
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18 business-like community, lies considerably poverty, which is often found in
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refugee communities. Integration into the wider London communities is
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23 problematic for many within the community as a result of lack of English
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25 language skills. The inability to speak English (and a lack of education and
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relevant skills) means that unemployment is high and those workers who are
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30 employed tend to work within the ‘ethnic enclave’ for long hours and low
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32 wages. In general, employment among women is very low, although women
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can be found working in restaurant kitchens or family businesses.
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Employment is higher among young educated women who are employed in
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39 places such banks, solicitors, schools and retail – often in workplaces outside
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the local communities. It is these different experiences of work, and in
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44 particular, how workers deal with problems at work that we consider in this
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46 paper.
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Methods and data collection
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52 Data from this paper comes from a 3-year Economic and Social Research
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54 Council funded research projectiii, and draws on material from 21 in-depth
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face-to-face interviews with key respondents and 61 individual Kurdish
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59 workers. Key respondents include people working in third sector
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organisations such as Law Centres and other advice and advocacy
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4 organisations like Citizens Advice, local solicitors, community organisations;
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faith groups and local council representatives. Interviews with workers were
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9 with people from different workplaces and sectors, some of whom are
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11 unionised, the majority of who were not and from different age groups.
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Twently-nine were individual worker interviews and the remainder were
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16 conducted through five focus groups in local community centres/cafes. The
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18 research focused on the places workers turn for help or advice and what
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strategies they developed to solve their problems. We were also interested in
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23 understanding how social networks (family, friends, ethnic, political and
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25 religious) were used to help people to solve their difficulties at work

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30 In an attempt to understand social networks in some detail, and the
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32 context in which people live their lives, the research focuses on the London
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boroughs of Hackney and Haringey, where there is a large Kurdish
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population. Although not the largest minority ethnic groups in the area
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39 Kurds do represent a significant under-researched ethnic group in this
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locality. In addition, trade union membership among Kurdish workers in
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44 relatively unknown or undocumented, although anecdotal evidence from

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46 unions suggests that very few are working in unionised workplaces. For
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example, the majority of Kurds tend to work within the local community,
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51 employed in small businesses and in food processing factories, places where
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53 employment procedures and practices can be informal or non-existent. In
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these circumstances, workers with problems may find it hard to get the help
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58 and support they need. The in-depth interviews were designed to elicit the
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60 processes workers adopted when they were faced with difficulties at work
and the mechanisms they used in an attempt to resolve them.
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Difficulties at work: what types of problems?
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9 It is already known from other research that workplace problems among
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11 British workers are widespread. For example, in 2001, the British Worker
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Representation and Participation (BWRP) survey found 38 per cent of
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16 respondents had problems at work (Gospel and Willman, 2003: 157) and
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18 other surveys suggests the figures are even higher: in one study, 49 per cent
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reported that they had experienced one of ten problems cited (Pollert and
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23 Charlwood, 2008: 8) and in another, 42 per cent (Casebourne et al., 2006:
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25 98). It is therefore not unreasonable to assume that the most vulnerable

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workers, those in precarious employment, those without English language
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30 skills and those who do not have recourse to trade union representation, may
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32 have more difficulties in getting a resolution to workplace problems. Many
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Kurdish workers fall into these categories, but in addition, they may also
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have problems relating to their immigration status, which increases their
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39 vulnerability. Many first generation Kurds are refugees or asylum seekers are
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exposed to greater exploitation in the labour market and this is even more
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44 pronounced for those who are undocumented:

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47 Interviewer: You said that you are undocumented, but working here.
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49 What kind of problems are you facing?
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52 A lot of problems. I did not work for 6 months after the fish and chips
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54 place. This was a big problem. Then my friends found me this place.
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For example if there is problem here and if you are undocumented
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59 maybe you can only mention this problem one time to sort it out, but if
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you are documented you can always defend your right. You have the
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4 fear of being unemployed. When I was without job for 6 months it was
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too difficult. If you are not working is too difficult to live here. (H37,
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9 Agit, Kurdish male, chef)
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However, despite the greater levels of fear for undocumented workers,
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16 our findings suggest that many Kurdish workers who were documented were
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18 also experiencing high levels of exploitation, particularly in relation to long
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hours and lack of paid holidays (or in some cases no holiday at all). For
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23 example, Aram, a 25-year old first generation restaurant worker explained
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25 what it was like in his workplace:

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28 Some of the problems at work are about the long working hours…in
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30 these kinds of jobs, holidays and vacations are very limited. Because
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33 there is no system, you need to work all the time. So you work all the
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35 time. (H33, Aram, Kurdish male, restaurant worker)
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40 Young Kurds like Aram, who have at least managed to find
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42 employment, tend to be working in either catering or the retail trade mainly
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44 in local Kurdish or Turkish businesses. For many, families, friends and

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47 kinship networks within the community are the sole source of employment
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49 and this can create even greater levels of exploitation. Some interviewees
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51 reported how they were working between 60 and 80 hours a week, without
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54 any formal employment contracts. Ciya, a baker, reported how he works 68
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56 hours a week for a total of £250iv and that a colleague had worked solidly for
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58 7 days a week for 8 years without any leave. As another worker explained, his
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life could be summarised in three words: ‘working, eating and sleeping’. The
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4 problems faced by these workers are often amplified by working within the
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community, as Rojan explains:
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9 When I joined the Kurdish company, through my relatives and
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12 friends, they told me, asked me to be IT manager, but the trouble is,
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14 when you start for a Kurdish company, unfortunately they don’t have
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16 any kind of formal structure. No proper hierarchy there, no job
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19 description properly done, no contract is there… This is the main
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21 problem working for a Kurdish company. I’m not trying to say every
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23 Kurdish company is like that, but most of Kurdish companies I know
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26 don’t have the kind of policies, like the health and safety policy,
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28 emergency policy or job contracts, job descriptions, hierarchies,
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30 managers, supervisors. They don’t exist in Kurdish working
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33 environments. (H25, Rojan, Kurdish male, IT manager)
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37 Second generation Kurds, who have grown up and who are socialised
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40 and educated in the UK, and who have graduated with qualifications, are
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42 often able to find more skilled and professional employment outside of the
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44 ‘ethnic enclave’. These workers may also be confronted with difficulties at

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47 work, but the issues they face at work are often of a different type. For
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49 example, Ezdan, has been working as a criminal solicitor for 5 years, talked
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51 about how he faced prejudice as a Kurd, that he felt had hindered his
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54 promotion:
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I would consider myself an experienced advocate in court and to get to
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59 that position has been very difficult, it’s not been easy. The main
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difficulty that I have is that I’m the only ethnic person in my firm. So
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4 the main difficulty that I have is competitiveness and the way people
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see me. I’ve not experienced any racism, I wouldn’t say it’s racism, but
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9 I have experienced people getting preference over me. And it’s not
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classification or a better command of the work, that’s not the basis. So
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16 therefore, one can only conclude that there is some sort of prejudice
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18 underlying what’s going on. (H23, Ezdan Kurdish male, solicitor)
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23 Although Ezdan claims not to have experienced racism, an analysis of
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25 his transcript reveals a number of references to differential treatment. He

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notes how he is the only minority ethnic employee and that this causes
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30 difficulties due to the way he is perceived and that his has affected his
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32 chances of promotion. In the discourse used by Ezdan he is searching for an
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explanation of his ‘prejudice’ he face, but appears reluctant to describe it as
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racism. We were cautious in our questioning of workers not to raise the
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39 issues of discrimination or racism, but we were interested to listen to how
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people described their own experiences of differential treatment at work. A
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44 number of other interviewees were cautious about describing the behaviour

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46 of colleagues as discrimination or racism. Zozan, a 24 year-old operations
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consultant working for a security company said:
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51 So yeah, inevitably, or indirectly, those things do get in the way, your
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54 culture, where you’re from, your ethnicity, definitely. And where I
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56 worked, the managers and people at the senior levels were pretty
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58 much British citizens, like English people rather than other ethnic
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minorities…Discrimination, I don’t - I wasn’t directly discriminated,
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4 but like I said, from what I explained previously, without realising,
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you might be facing discrimination without the person maybe not
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9 having the intentions to discriminate you. But because of their own
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11 beliefs and their ignorance, they may be discriminating me, if that
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makes sense. (H24, Zozan, Kurdish female, operations co-ordinator)
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18 When asked about any difficulties she had faced at work, Avashin, who
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worked in a chemist shop began the interview by saying:
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23 I don’t think I experienced any racial discrimination, but when I first
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26 started my work, I was paid a really low amount like £5.15. I don’t
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28 know why but it was, I think when I started it should have been £5.35
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30 and I knew that but because I needed the job I accepted it…I didn’t
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33 think it was racial, to do with me not being British [note: all other
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35 employees were paid £5.35]. I think it was because it’s just they just
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37 look for the cheap labour and because I accepted it. I think it was my
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40 fault for not knowing how much the minimum wage was. (H26,
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42 Avashin, Kurdish female, retail worker)
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47 In these accounts, workers, unprompted, made similar comments
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49 about racial discrimination, but stopped short of applying the term to the
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51 differential treatment they experienced. There are a number of explanations
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54 that perhaps explain these apparent contradictions. The first may relate to
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56 the understanding and experiences of the attempted destruction of the
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58 Kurdish culture by the nations occupying Kurdistan. Many Kurds compare
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their lives in the UK with that of their homeland (Author B, 2007) where
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4 brutal ‘ethnic cleansing’ has destroyed thousands of lives and communities
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and prevented Kurds from even speaking their own languages. This open and
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9 direct discrimination by the State and nationalist groups is more readily or
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11 definitively described as racism. Racism, in the context described above,
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then becomes a definitional or discourse issue. It is clear from the
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16 descriptions given by workers that they are experiencing discrimination as a
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18 result of their ethnicity, but the label ‘racism’ perhaps means something
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different – something more than the systemic disadvantage described above.
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25 In this section we have only been able to provide a brief account of the
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issues raised by some interviewees about the problems they have
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30 experienced at work, but other stories are remarkably similar. The issues of
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32 low pay, long hours, denial of holidays and withholding or non-payment of
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wages, are those that are most common. The next section will look at how
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worker have attempted to extradite themselves from the unfortunate
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39 situations in which they find themselves.
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To whom do workers turn?
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45 Other research has found that un-unionised workers (and indeed many
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47 unionised workers) find it extremely difficult to find a satisfactory resolution
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to problems at work (Pollert, 2007, Pollert and Charlwood, 2008). Similarly,
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52 the most vulnerable of the Kurdish worker interviewees reported that there
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54 was simply no mechanism for resolving workplace difficulties and that they
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did not know where to seek advice. In these circumstances, although many
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59 individuals raised complaints with their bosses, they were often given little
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options, either leave or put up with the situation:
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4 We work at restaurants or off licences. In these sectors there is not
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such a complaint procedure. If you confront a problem at these
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9 workplaces, you have to solve it alone. There is not any institution or
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11 union help you. Either you solve the problems or you leave there.
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(HFG1, Dijwar Kurdish male, restaurant worker)
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18 The relationships between workers and family members makes dealing
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with problems even more difficult as greater pressure is applied to work
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23 extra hours or cover for people who are sick or on leave. One interviewee,
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25 Shilan, a young woman, was working as a waitress in her brother’s business

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and was desperate to find another job outside the community. As she
28
rR
29
30 explained, ‘I had to do it because it is my brother’s and it is like a family
31
32 business’. Rojan, also a young worker talked of how younger and more
33
ev
34
educated members of the community were resisting working in family run
35
36
firms:
iew
37
38
39
40 Most of the Kurdish people I know they say proudly and very firmly
41
42 they say ‘I will never ever work for my close relatives, never, ever!’
43
On
44 They say no, every single time and [there are] lots of problems. At the
45
46
47 end of the day you just ruin the relationship. (H25, Rojan, Kurdish
ly
48
49 male, IT manager)
50
51
52
53
54 While it is the case that many Kurdish people work in these small firms,
55
56 others are working outside of the community and in business where there are
57
58 no kinship relationships. We were interested to explore what workers in
59
60
these circumstances did when they had serious problems at work. Key
15
1
2
3
4 respondents from the local Law Centre, Citizens Advice and local solicitors
5
6
where able to provide data on the ethnicity of their clients. Hackney Law
7
8
9 Centre, a charity providing legal advice to members of the local community
10
11 for the last 30 years, reported that they had very few employment enquiries
12
13
from Kurdish (or Turkish) workers. Similarly, the Citizens Advice office in
14
15
16 Hackney did not provide any employment advice, and workers in Hackney
Fo
17
18 were directed to the CAB in nearby Tower Hamlets, who held the
19
20
employment advice contract from the Legal Services Commissionv. However,
rP
21
22
23 this CAB also reported few enquires from Kurdish workers. One local
24
ee
25 solicitor, who worked for a large national firm, however, explained that they
26
27
actively marketed their employment services to the local Kurdish
28
rR
29
30 community, advertising in the local Kurdish press and using Kurdish
31
32 interpreters to pass on information about the practice:
33
ev
34
35 We also have a number of interpreters who are Kurdish and they refer
36
iew
37 work to us as well, because they’ve got a large database of potential

38
39
40 clients. And the Kurdish community are pretty tight knit and they
41
42 don’t like necessarily disclosing too much information to anyone apart
43
On
44 from themselves. (H11, local solicitor)

45
46
47
ly
48
49 Compared to our other interviewees in the black Caribbean
50
51 communities of Lambeth and the South Asian communities of Ealing – part
52
53
54 of the wider ESRC research project – Kurdish workers appear more likely
55
56 respond that they were likely to turn to solicitors for assistance with work
57
58 related matters, and this was particularly the case among younger workers:
59
60
16
1
2
3
4 But what it seems to me is that the older generation seems to be more
5
6
reluctant to take it too far. The younger generation wants to take it
7
8
9 further. So there are elements of honour and also a question of trying
10
11 to take maybe more of a sanguine or more of a realistic viewpoint by
12
13
the older generation. (H11, local solicitor)
14
15
16
Fo
17
18 The turn to solicitors for employment advice is probably due to the
19
20
lower unionisations rates among Kurds, but also reflects the fact that there is
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21
22
23 little other employment advice provision available within the local
24
ee
25 community (see Author A, B, C 2009a, 2009b for further information).

26
27
Although most of our interviewees were aware of the CAB, there was a
28
rR
29
30 reluctance to use the services – either because it was so difficult to access
31
32 advice due to long queues, or it was thought the advice available was limited.
33
ev
34
There was an expectation that solicitors may be a useful source of help and
35
36
advice, yet few had actually approach solicitors, nor knew how the system
iew
37
38
39 worked. Solicitors are only able to provide limited advice for those on low or
40
41
42
without income and legal aid funding is only available for initial advice and
43
On
44 case preparation and is not available for representation at employment

45
46 tribunal. If a case needs to go to a hearing, then clients are left to represent
47
ly
48
49
themselves, which can be daunting, particularly as employers, are likely to
50
51 have solicitors or barristers to present their case. Yet, the fact that solicitors
52
53 advertise in local Kurdish newspapers and make it known that they have
54
55
56
Kurdish interpreters, may appear to make the advice here more accessible.
57
58
59
60 At the start of the research we expected that Kurdish community
organisations may be an important resource for workers with problems at
17
1
2
3
4 work. Both Hackney and neighbouring Haringey have a number of well-
5
6
organised and well-funded Kurdish/Turkish/Cypriot community centres.
7
8
9 With around 10-15 organisations – the largest run weekly advice services as
10
11 well as daily social and cultural activities. The community centres play an
12
13
important role for Kurds, both first and second generation and many in the
14
15
16 community attend either daily or at least once a week. In some case, the use
Fo
17
18 is purely instrumental:
19
20
rP
21 When we first came here we did not speak English. If you had the
22
23 problem you would go to community centre. If you wanted help you
24
ee
25
26 can go to community centre. Over the weekend where I was? I was in
27
28 community centre. And especially our community centre provides
rR
29
30 different activities. Like the language school, teaching Kurdish at
31
32
33 GCSE level courses. They provide translations. They provide help to
ev
34
35 the elderly. They provide help to the mentally disabled. The list goes
36
iew
37 on. I would use my community centres more than I would use Citizen
38
39
40 Advice bureau or Law Centre, because in the community centres we
41
42 have friends who are lawyers, friends working in different positions.
43
On
44 So it's a big resource actually to tap in to. I do use it, yes. (H27, Ciwan,
45
46
47 Kurdish male, housing officer)
ly
48
49
50
51 In other cases, the centres are a repository of Kurdish identity, helping
52
53
54 to retain links back to the homeland, but they also encourage the expression
55
56 of Kurdish culture and language, which has been forcibly suppressed over
57
58 decades:
59
60
18
1
2
3
4 Kurdish community organisations? They are very important, they are
5
6
definitely very important. Keeping the identity alive, the Kurdish
7
8
9 identity and forwarding that identity to the new generation by
10
11 creating schools, education and all this. And in our case of Diaspora
12
13
community organisations, they have multi duty rather than one. It’s
14
15
16 not only to keep the community alive, but also because we don’t have a
Fo
17
18 united government back in homeland, our community organisations
19
20
they are acting as branches of government. As institutions that would
rP
21
22
23 duplicate and regenerate the sense of identity and the amount of
24
ee
25 communication and unification of the Kurdish identity that you see in

26
27
the Diaspora, you don’t see it back home. (H34, Kurdish male, housing
28
rR
29
30 officer)
31
32
33
ev
34
Given the importance of the community centres to many in the Kurdish
35
36
communities, it was expected that workers might turn to them for help or
iew
37
38
39 advice when facing problems at work. Yet despite many positive associations
40
41
42
with community organisations, most interviewees felt that they would not
43
On
44 use the centres for employment related matters. Interviewees talked about
45
46 the using advice services for issues of immigration, housing, language etc,
47
ly
48
49
but not employment. Mostly this was due to the lack of specialist
50
51 employment advisors in the advice surgeries, but there was also reluctance
52
53 among workers to discuss what they considered to the ‘private issue’ of
54
55
56
employment in these public spaces (despite the surgeries being conducted
57
58 confidentially and in closed offices). While immigration and language are
59
60 perceived as common or collective matters, the same does not seem to apply
in relation to employment. The kinship nature of the much of the
19
1
2
3
4 employment among Kurds is no doubt a factor in this regard. Workers and
5
6
bosses are members of the same communities and all use the community
7
8
9 centres as social and cultural centres. In these tight social networks where
10
11 people are well known to each other, it is understandable that there is
12
13
caution about raising complaints against other people within the community.
14
15
16 A second factor is that issues of low pay, long hours, lack of contract, denial
Fo
17
18 of holiday, or in fact, any statutory rights, are so common that they have
19
20
become normalised. As was noted earlier, in these circumstances, and as a
rP
21
22
23 result of the lack of opportunity for different types of employment, workers
24
ee
25 do not seek to resolve their problems and either leave or ‘put up’ with the
26
27
situation for as long as it is tolerable.
28
rR
29
30
31
32 We did, however, find that there was one formal mechanism within the
33
ev
34
Kurdish communities for dealing with some of the more serious employment
35
36
related problems and it was here that the community centres were able to
iew
37
38
39 play a role in helping to resolve difficulties between members of the same
40
41
42
community. The director of one community organisation explained how a
43
On
44 ‘Peace Committee’ was established, made up of respected community elders

45
46 who were elected by members of the community centre. As he explained, this
47
ly
48
49
committee, which had considerable standing in the community, would be
50
51 called on to arbitrate and its decisions were expected to be binding on the
52
53 parties involved (although, of course, had no enforcement in law):
54
55
56 What they will do, they will just call the business owner, because the
57
58 naming and shaming is a big issue [in the community], so this
59
60
business owner will come over and they will say ‘look this person says
20
1
2
3
4 that he works for you and you do not pay him, why is that’?[He might
5
6
say] ‘Ok, he worked but he left early’. [The Peace Committee] they will
7
8
9 find a consensus. So they will either make him pay, they will ask him
10
11 to pay all the money he owes, or if the person that works for him has
12
13
not fulfilled his promises, if he hasn’t worked for four weeks, if he
14
15
16 worked only for two and a half weeks, he will get two and a half
Fo
17
18 weeks’ pay. (H5, Kurdish male, Director of Halkevi, Kurdish
19
20
community organisation)
rP
21
22
23
24
ee
25 This dispute resolution procedure is only for the most serious of cases
26
27
and open to those Kurdish workers working for Kurdish employers. It is also
28
rR
29
30 subject to the social network constraints mentioned above, meaning that
31
32 many may be reluctant to avail themselves of the service.
33
ev
34
35
36
Concluding remarks
iew
37
38 Our aim in this paper has been to consider how an individual’s identity and
39
40 community involvement impacts upon the way they respond to employment
41
42
43
related problems. The focus on the Kurdish communities of north London
On
44
45 has allowed an exploration of a community with strong social networks
46
47 where many work within the local ethnic based businesses. Issues of
ly
48
49
50
belonging, class, gender, kinship and migration status, each have a particular
51
52 influence on the way individuals seek to deal with the situations in which
53
54 they find themselves. But the lack of official data on the Kurdish population
55
56
57
in the UK has meant that there is little understanding of Kurdish labour
58
59 market activity and in particular the problems within work. The Kurdish
60
population of north London, is predominantly from northern Kurdistan is
21
1
2
3
4 generally categorised as ‘Turkish’ or ‘white other’ and as such, when Kurds
5
6
are included in research accounts they tend to be collectively grouped with
7
8
9 Turkish and Turkish Cypriot communities, thus denying the distinct social,
10
11 political and cultural identity of the Kurdish people. A consequence of this is,
12
13
in effect, to render the Kurdish communities invisible. Yet, conversely, it also
14
15
16 serves to reinforce a strong collective consciousness.
Fo
17
18
19
20
The concept of a Kurdish community to which all Kurds belong, built around
rP
21
22
23 experience of oppression and denial of cultural expression, was deeply felt
24
ee
25 amongst interviewees. Local Kurdish community centres have nurtured the

26
27
notion of belonging, becoming repositories of Kurdish history, politics,
28
rR
29
30 current affairs and cultural identity. However, these strong local community
31
32 ties are the same social, familial and kinship networks that operate to
33
ev
34
provide workers with jobs. A consequence is that some workers are reluctant
35
36
to use community resources as a means of advice and support for work-
iew
37
38
39 related problems. Others however, called for investment in professionally
40
41
42
trained advisors to be located in community centres, arguing that
43
On
44 ‘mainstream’ advice services were inaccessible for those who did not speak
45
46 English. The ‘invisibility’ of Kurds to national and local bodies, also leads to a
47
ly
48
49
situation where employment advice is unavailable in Kurdish languages.
50
51 Although this is not an issue for most second generation Kurds, first
52
53 generation migrants who speak little or no English, are not only unaware of
54
55
56
their employment rights, but are also unable to access the information that
57
58 exists on government websites (Pollert, 2005). Further, the difficulty of
59
60 access to interpreting services and the lack of ESOL classes at local
institutions hinders rather than fosters an individual initiative to deal with
22
1
2
3
4 problems. Yet, it was more than an issue of language that prevented these
5
6
workers from using CABx and Law Centres, there were also issues of trust
7
8
9 and understanding. Interviewees reported how they felt more ‘comfortable’
10
11 within their own community where their problems were more readily
12
13
understood, but that advice needs to be provided by professional
14
15
16 employment advisors, rather than by members of the community centres.
Fo
17
18
19
20
The research has recorded cases of super-exploitation and systemic
rP
21
22
23 disadvantage among Kurdish workers, particularly among those who are
24
ee
25 undocumented. The refusal of the government to allow refugees to work

26
27
inevitably contributes to this situation as asylum seekers are forced into
28
rR
29
30 ‘illegal’ working in order to avoid becoming destitute (Sargeant and Forna,
31
32 2001). Many interviewees who worked without contracts, were forced to
33
ev
34
work long hours and paid below the minimum wage, had effectively
35
36
normalised these bad work practices. Poor employment conditions were so
iew
37
38
39 common among Kurds that to complain to outside bodies seemed almost
40
41
42
irrelevant. While workers did raise concerns with their bosses, they seldom
43
On
44 were in a position to force a resolution to their problems. In some cases,

45
46 issues were internalised to the extent that workers blamed themselves for the
47
ly
48
49
way they were treated. As Avashin, the young female retail worker explained;
50
51 ‘I think it was my fault for not knowing how much the minimum wage was.’
52
53
54
55
56
Overall, the workers we have interviewed so far have found little
57
58 resolution to their problems at work. While some younger workers think that
59
60 solicitors may be able to assist, these views are based on assumptions rather
than a real understanding of their legal rights in terms of employment.
23
1
2
3
4 There was also a strong feeling that unions ought to do more to recruit and
5
6
organise within the community, again using the community centres as a
7
8
9 resource. However, small businesses have seldom been a priority for trade
10
11 unions. Even if unions were minded to put resources into this area, the
12
13
disparate nature of small retail establishments and restaurants and the
14
15
16 transient nature of the workforce means they are not the easiest workplaces
Fo
17
18 to organise. Yet a community-unionism based approach modelled on the
19
20
migrant workers centres in the UK, maybe an approach that could work in
rP
21
22
23 these circumstances. For example, Fine (2005a: 155) argues that in
24
ee
25 community-based unions ‘forms of identity such as race, ethnicity and

26
27
gender stand in for craft or industry as the principal means of recruitment
28
rR
29
30 and strongest bounds between workers.’ For Kurds, for whom the
31
32 community has great importance, the community centres could become an
33
ev
34
essential place in which to organise. Fine as noted that unionisation
35
36
campaigns have been most successful where they have taken account of the
iew
37
38
39 context of individuals’ lives as workers and as members of wider society
40
41
42
(Fine, 2005b). In the context of the Kurdish communities, many people
43
On
44 already have a sense of belonging to a wider community and this is one of the
45
46 necessary prerequisites for collective mobilisation (Kelly, 1998). This,
47
ly
48
49
combined with the positive attitudes to unionisation, perhaps provides an
50
51 opportunity for unions to attempt new approaches to organising vulnerable
52
53 workers in marginalised communities.
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
24
1
2
3
4 References
5
6 CASEBOURNE, J., et al. 2006 'Employment Rights at Work – Survey of Employees
7 2005', DTI Employment Relations Research Series No. 51. London:
8 Department of Trade and Industry.
9 ENNELI, P. 2002 'Social exclusion and young Turkish-speaking people's future
10
prospects: economic deprivation and the culturalisation of ethnicity', in
11
FENTON, S. & BRADLEY, H. (eds) Ethnicity and Economy - 'Race and Class'
12
Revisited. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
13
ENNELI, P., MODOOD, T. & BRADLEY, H. 2005 'Young Turks and Kurds: a set of
14
15
'invisible' disadvantaged groups'. Joseph Rowntree Foundation.
16 FINE, J. 2005a 'Community unions and the revival of the American labor movement',
Fo
17 Politics and Society, vol. 33, no. 1, pp. 153–199.

18 --- 2005b Workers Centres. Organizing on the edge of the dream. Ithaca: Cornell
19 University Press.
20 GOSPEL, H. & WILLMAN, P. 2003 'Dilemmas in worker representation:
rP
21 information, consultation and negotiation', in GOSPEL, H. & WOOD, S. (eds)

22 Representing Workers: union recognition and membership in Britain.
23 London: Routledge.
24 JORDON, B. & DÜVELL, F. 2002 Irregular Migration. The Dilemmas of
Transnational Mobility. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
ee
25
26 AUTHOR A, B, C (2009A)
27 AUTHOR A, B, C, (2009B)
28 AUTHOR B (2006)
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29 AUTHOR B (2007)
30 KELLY, J. 1998 Rethinking Industrial Relations. Mobilization, Collectivism and
31 Long Waves. London: Routledge.
32 KING, R. & BRIDAL, J. 1982 'The changing distribution of Cypriots in London',
33 Etudes Migrations, vol. 65, pp. 93-121.
ev
34 KING, R., et al. 2008 '‘Turks’ in London Shades of Invisibility and the Shifting
35 Relevance of Policy in the Migration Process', Working paper 51. Sussex:
36 University of Sussex Sussex Centre for Migration Research.
iew
37 LAISER, S. 1996 Martyrs, Traitors and Patriots: Kurdistan after the Gulf War.
38 London: Zed Books.
39 OFFICE FOR NATIONAL STATISTICS 2008 'Information paper: recommended
40 questions for the 2009 census rehearsal and 2011 census'. London: Office for
41 National Statistics.
42 POLLERT, A. 2005 'The unorganised worker: The decline in collectivism and new
43
On
hurdles to individual employment rights', Industrial Law Journal, vol. 34, no.
44 3, pp. 217-238.
45 --- 2007 The Unorganised Vulnerable Worker and Problems at Work: the Weakness
46
of Individual External Remedy and the Case for Union Organising. London:
47
Institute of Employment Rights.
ly
48
POLLERT, A. & CHARLWOOD, A. 2008 'Vulnerable Workers and Problems at Work,
49
' Centre for Employment Studies Research Working Paper 11.
50
51
http://www.uwe.ac.uk/bbs/research/cesr/workingpapers.shtml.
52 REILLY, R. 1991 'Political identity, protest and power amongst Kurdish refugees in
53 Britain', MA thesis, Cambridge University.
54 SARGEANT, G. & FORNA, A. 2001 'A poor reception, refugees and asylum seekers:
55 welfare or work?'. London: The Industrial Society.
56 THOMSON, M., et al. 2006 ' 'Turks' in the UK. Second MIGSS Report'. Centre for
57 Migration Research: University of Sussex.
58 VALI, A. 1998 'The Kurds and their 'Others': fragmented identity and fragmented
59 politics', Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East, vol.
60 18, no. 2, pp. 82-94.
25
1
2
3
4 VAN BRUINESSEN, M. 1999 'The Kurds in movement: migrations, mobilisations,
5 communications and the globalisation of the Kurdish question'. Tokyo:
6 Islamic Area Studies Project, Japan
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15 i The research focuses on the north London boroughs of Hackney and Haringey were
16 there are substantial Kurdish communities.
Fo
ii
17 Kurdish communities and the Kurdish media tend to use the term ‘northern
18 Kurdistan’ for the eastern and southern-eastern regions of Anatolia, but in different
19 academic texts, the same area is sometimes referred to as ‘Turkish Kurdistan’. The
20
rP
21
British media generally only use the term Kurdistan if they report about Turkish and
22 Kurdish ethnic conflict. In this paper we will use the term ‘northern Kurdistan’
iii
23 ESRC grant: Influences of identity, community and social networks on ethnic
24 minority representation at work. RES-062-23-0464. The research is looking at 3
ee
25 different minority ethnic communities in three different areas of London, but the
26 focus in this paper is on the Kurdish communities of Hackney.
27 iv
28
The wage is below the UK National Minimum Wage of £5.52 (as it was at the time
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29 of interview in July 2008). In October 2008 the NMW was raised to £5.73.
v
30 The Legal Services Commission is the body responsible for the distribution of Legal
31 Aid and it awards contracts to CABx, Law Centres, Solicitors and other advice
32 agencies to provide different types of legal advice.
33
ev
34
35
36
iew
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
On
44
45
46
47
ly
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
26

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Ethnic and Racial Studies

To whom do I turn when I am invisible? The experiences of

Journal: Ethnic and Racial Studies

Manuscript ID: RERS-2009-0195

Manuscript Type: Original Manuscript

Keywords: Kurdish, employment, ethnicity, identity, work, community

URL: http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/rers ethnic@surrey.ac.uk

significant factor in much ethnicity-based research. A consequence of this is

37 ‘National Identity may identify significant groups in the UK which

44 country of birth since it is how people view themselves rather than a

25 Kurdish workers construct commonality and community in the process of

Today, in the UK, we can see a transformation – at least within the

25 almost possible to imagine yourself in a different country as you listen to the

44 Kurdish community centre was established in 1982 in Haringey and, in

25 religious) were used to help people to solve their difficulties at work

44 relatively unknown or undocumented, although anecdotal evidence from

and the mechanisms they used in an attempt to resolve them.

25 98). It is therefore not unreasonable to assume that the most vulnerable

44 pronounced for those who are undocumented:

25 what it was like in his workplace:

44 in local Kurdish or Turkish businesses. For many, families, friends and

44 ‘ethnic enclave’. These workers may also be confronted with difficulties at

25 his transcript reveals a number of references to differential treatment. He

44 number of other interviewees were cautious about describing the behaviour

25 Shilan, a young woman, was working as a waitress in her brother’s business

37 work to us as well, because they’ve got a large database of potential

44 from themselves. (H11, local solicitor)

25 community (see Author A, B, C 2009a, 2009b for further information).

44 case preparation and is not available for representation at employment

organisations may be an important resource for workers with problems at

25 communication and unification of the Kurdish identity that you see in

in relation to employment. The kinship nature of the much of the

44 ‘Peace Committee’ was established, made up of respected community elders

25 amongst interviewees. Local Kurdish community centres have nurtured the

institutions hinders rather than fosters an individual initiative to deal with

25 undocumented. The refusal of the government to allow refugees to work

44 were in a position to force a resolution to their problems. In some cases,

than a real understanding of their legal rights in terms of employment.

25 community-based unions ‘forms of identity such as race, ethnicity and

17 Politics and Society, vol. 33, no. 1, pp. 153–199.

21 information, consultation and negotiation', in GOSPEL, H. & WOOD, S. (eds)

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