German capitalism and migrant work in meat. How COVID allowed to break the path-dependent labour exploitation

Abstract

Major COVID-19 outbreaks in slaughterhouses brought the extent of migrant labour exploitation in the German meat sector to the limelight. Adopting a historical-institutionalist perspective, we argue that the COVID-19 pandemic marked a critical juncture for migrant workers, albeit with highly contingent effects. Only in the meat sector could political salience enable a far-reaching policy response. By contrast, precisely to avoid any broader effects of the pandemic in terms of food supply, the social protection of seasonal workers was temporarily even lowered. While the reform’s precise effects remain to be seen, our comparative case study shows that member states have regulatory options to shape the effects of European integration. We understand the reform resistance and path dependence of the meat sector in the context of German capitalism’s export dependence. While undervaluation in the Euro regime is normally discussed as cause for wage restraint, underpaid migrant work as analysed in this paper appears as an additional explanation.