European Migrant Workers Research Articles

Central and Eastern European migrant worker status, co-living situation and SARS-CoV-2 exposure and transmission risk.

Central and Eastern European (CEE) migrant workers in essential industries are at higher risk of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) exposure and transmission. We investigated the relationship of CEE migrant status and co-living situation with indicators of SARS-CoV-2 exposure and transmission risk (ETR), aiming to find entry points for policies to reduce health inequalities for migrant workers. We included 563 SARS-CoV-2-positive workers between October 2020 and July 2021. Data on ETR indicators were obtained from source- and contact-tracing interviews via retrospective analysis of medical records. Associations of CEE migrant status and co-living situation with ETR indicators were analyzed using chi-square tests and multivariate logistic regression analyses. CEE migrant status was not associated with occupational ETR but was with higher occupational-domestic exposure [odds ratio (OR) 2.92; P = 0.004], lower domestic exposure (OR 0.25, P < 0.001), lower community exposure (OR 0.41, P = 0.050) and transmission (OR 0.40, P = 0.032) and higher general transmission (OR 1.76, P = 0.004) risk. Co-living was not associated with occupational and community ETR but was with higher occupational-domestic exposure (OR 2.63, P = 0.032), higher domestic transmission (OR 17.12, P < 0.001) and lower general exposure (OR 0.34, P = 0.007) risk. The workfloor poses an equal SARS-CoV-2 ETR for all workers. CEE migrants encounter less ETR in their community but pose a general risk by delaying testing. When co-living, CEE migrants encounter more domestic ETR. Coronavirus disease preventive policies should aim at occupational safety for essential industry workers, reduction of test delay for CEE migrants and improvement of distancing options when co-living.

Racial capitalism and the production of difference in Helsinki and Warsaw

ABSTRACT Drawing on fieldwork among young among post-Soviet migrants in Helsinki (2014–2016) and Warsaw (2020), the article seeks an answer to the following question: what kind of work does racialisation of Eastern European migrant workers accomplish? The paper analyses young post-Soviet migrants’ position within the structures of racial capitalism in Europe, thus, shifting the focus from race as located in the body towards racialised positionings within the hierarchies of labour. I argue that following the analytical terms of racial capitalism and racial triangulation is a helpful way for thinking about the ways subjects racialised as ‘Eastern European’ are brought into the service of the capitalist order as located at a distance from both Blackness and hegemonic whiteness. In this article, I analyse the production and management of racial difference within whiteness and Europe itself for the purposes of economic exploitation. By bringing attention to the ‘peripheralised’ locations of the EU, the article highlights the workings of racialisation in the locations that tend to escape race critical analysis.

‘The half I keep’: John Berger’s Booker Prize speech fifty years later

Fifty years after John Berger’s controversial acceptance speech for the Booker Prize in 1972, in which he highlighted Booker McConnell’s involvement in the colonial exploitation of the Caribbean and announced that he would donate half of the prize money to the British Black Panthers and use the other half to research the situation of European migrant workers, the author reflects on the implications of the speech for anti-racist struggle in the 1970s and today, as well as the direction of Berger’s work after this pivotal intervention.

Two-tier EU citizenship: Disposable Eastern European workers during the COVID-19 pandemic

We argue that the (mis)treatment of Eastern European migrant workers during the pandemic revealed the existence of a two-tier EU citizenship, despite the political discourse of equality within the EU. We show that this two-tier citizenship system was generated by the combined effect of differentiated rights and of prejudicious practices applied to EE citizens. In terms of differentiated rights, we refer specifically to the implementation of transitional arrangements for up to 7 years following the Eastern enlargements in 2004 and 2007, which restricted access to the labour markets and welfare systems of the incumbent member states, de facto undermining the right to free movement for this group of EU citizens. In terms of prejudicious practices, we refer to the instances of exploitation, abuses, de-skilling, exclusion from public services and use of social rights that EE migrant workers have been well documented to experience. We show that the two-tier citizenship system reflects the unequal power relations between Member States and the internal political, economic and social hierarchy present within the European Union.

(Pand)Economic Migration: An Attempt to Assess the COVID-19 Impact on European Migrant Workers Situations

Purpose: The main objective is an attempt to present the decision motives and situation of economic migrants during COVID-19 pandemic. The research hypothesis adopted is “The push, pull and indirect obstacles created in the first year of the pandemic, had an impact on European labour migrants only in the short term.” Design/Methodology/Approach: The basis were economic migrants from the Ukraine, Poland and Germany. The literature analysis, desk research and descriptive statistics method as well as selected statistical analysis indicators were applied. The conducted analyses feature references to reports and data bases collected from Eurostat and bureaus of statistics of individual countries. Findings: The impact of the COVID-19 on emigration depends on the nature of the migration factor dominating among emigrants. In the case of migrants from Ukraine or Poland (mainly labour nature of migration), the impact of the COVID-19 was short-term. Despite the restrictions, differences in the labour markets of the sending and receiving countries continued to be a strong motivation. The uncertainty for migrants in terms of legislation was also short-term. In the case of emigrants from Germany, in which emigration is dominated by more effective allocation of human capital, the pandemic slowed down the scale of emigration. Practical Implications: The results of the research will be useful not only for migrants, but also for governments. It can also constitute a starting point for in-depth considerations on pandemic impact on international migration and labour markets. Due to the different nature of European countries, economic migration will help government bodies to adopt effective migration policy by developing more effective methods to support the migrant employment. Originality/Value: It is a unique comparison of economic motives for foreign emigration taking into account the impact of the elements of the push-pull theory, both within the EU migration to/from the EU from/to third countries, in the first year of the pandemic.

Grounded Theory Analysis of Work-based TVET and Intersectional Challenges Between Construction Workers

In this study, I examine training in the work-based part of Norwegian technical vocational education and training (TVET). The TVET model includes two years in school followed by two years of apprenticeship at an authorized training enterprise. The empirical findings are based on one year of fieldwork combined with interviews, while following communities of plumbers and apprentices on construction sites and at a training agency. The article describes how work tasks and training on the construction site are continued and elaborated at the training agency, where technical theory and drawing are intertwined in practical plumbing. Over the past two decades, Norway has welcomed a significant number of eastern European migrant workers. Construction is among the industries most affected. This study explores how plumbers negotiate work and training at the intersection with dominant groups of foreign construction workers.

Apparent Disparities in Hospital Admission and Biologic Use in the Management of Inflammatory Bowel Disease between 2014–2018 in Some Black and Ethnic Minority (BEM) Populations in England

Discrimination in delivery of care to patients with inflammatory bowel disease has been reported in the UK with regards to the South Asian population. This paper explores whether it is also true for Afro-Caribbean and Eastern European migrant workers. Treatment was investigated in NHS trusts, which served substantial migrant and minority communities, through Freedom of Information requests for data on use of biologics or hospital admissions over a five year period. In Bristol, Nottingham, Derby and Burton, Princess Alexandra Hospital Trust in Harlow, Essex and Kings College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust in South London Afro-Caribbean patients were treated significantly less often than White British patients. Eastern European migrant workers, were admitted significantly less often in Croydon, and the Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust in Essex. However, there was no evidence of barriers to access for these communities in Wye Valley Trust, University Hospitals of Bristol NHS Foundation Trust or Queen Elizabeth Hospital Kings Lynn. In North West Anglia both South Asian and Eastern European patients were significantly less likely to be admitted to hospital than members of the White British community. It is incumbent on all gastroenterologists to consider their own clinical practice and encourage their hospital units to adopt effective policies which remove discriminatory barriers to good quality care.

The mobility of workers living at work in Europe

Scholars, mainly focusing on Asia, consistently describe the im/mobility of workers living at work as orchestrated from above. This article bring to the forefront forms of workers’ mobility that take place outside of the established and often policed tracks. Focusing on Europe, the article shows that the mobility of workers is the outcome of the interplay of both employers’ strategies and workers’ agency. Based on extensive fieldwork among migrant workers in Europe – Chinese migrants in the Italian fashion industry, and Eastern European migrant workers at the Foxconn electronics plants in the Czech Republic – the article offers a new approach. Instead of focusing on the single workplace at a certain point in time, it adopts a perspective that considers the multiplicity of accommodations at work for workers across Europe along the time dimension. By extending the study of the dormitory regime to the European Union, the article highlights the way the growing frequency of factories cum dormitories to a certain extent empowers the workers as their horizons extend to other sites within Europe and are not limited to a single firm.

A Contingency Analysis of Precarious Organizational Temporariness

This paper extends current understanding of organizational temporariness. The life of a temporary British trade union branch established to recruit Eastern European migrant workers reveals ‘precarious temporariness’, which is less predictable than the ‘planned temporariness’ typically portrayed in the literature. This different type of temporariness was associated with four key contingencies affecting the branch: dispersed governance; bottom‐up initiatives; uncertain resourcing; and an effectuation logic. Analysis of the case extends existing understanding of organizational temporariness and points to an extension of existing theorizing by highlighting the contingent nature of temporariness. The broader managerial implication of the findings is that, for projects facing contingencies of the kind studied, the conventional linear approach of target setting and performance management will be less effective than an ongoing process of communication and consultation.

The Rise and Implications of Temporary Staffing as a Migration Industry in Norway

Temporary staffing agencies have recently emerged as a significant ‘migration industry’ in Norway, actively recruiting and facilitating the employment of workers from new eastern EU states (EU10). This article explores how such agencies shape patterns of mobility and labour market incorporation among migrant workers. Although agencies promote circular and temporary mobility for western European labour migrants, this is not the case for the eastern European migrant workers. Although temporary staffing jobs are often short-term stepping stones into regular employment for native workers, migrant workers far more often remain employed within staffing agencies for many years. Finally, the eastern European migrants recruited through agencies have far lower earnings and are more at risk of needing public benefits than those hired directly. The findings show that the temporary staffing industry has functioned as a spearhead for establishing a permanent, yet hyper-flexible and highly precarious migrant workforce in the otherwise highly regulated Norwegian labour market.

Measuring public discomfort at meeting people with disabilities

The discomfort reported by the general public at the prospect of personal contact with marginalised groups is an expression of the stigma they experience. This has been widely studied in relation to ethnic minorities and immigrants but less so for persons with disabilities. A national survey with a representative sample of over 1100 Irish adults provided an opportunity to examine reported discomfort with persons who had different impairments, including mental health conditions, with four other minority groups. Moreover, the personal and situational variables associated with expressions of discomfort were identified.Respondents were most comfortable having persons with physical and sensorial disabilities living in their neighbourhood or in their workplace but less so for persons with intellectual disabilities and even less for people with mental health conditions. They were much less comfortable with the four other social groups: gay, lesbian or bisexual people; Eastern European migrant workers; black and ethnic minority groups and least of all, travellers. Moreover, a factor analysis confirmed that the scores given to the impaired groups were significantly correlated with each other but less so with the other four social groupings, although these were significantly inter-correlated among themselves. Respondents who were more comfortable with both sets of minority groups tended to have more social connections in their personal lives and to reside in towns or villages rather than cities. They also expressed more positive attitudes to the inclusion of persons with disabilities in Irish society.The gradient in levels of public discomfort across minority groups may provide a sensitive indicator of the differential stigma experienced by persons with impairments within societies but there remains the possibility that an alliance with other minority groups would also help to promote more positive attitudes and reduce their wider social exclusion.

Investigated or ignored? An analysis of race-related deaths since the Macpherson Report

Since the publication of the Macpherson Report in February 1999, there have been at least ninety-three deaths with a known or suspected racial element in the UK. Of these, 97 per cent of the victims were from BME communities (including those from Gypsy or Traveller communities and European migrant workers). Particular groups of BME people are at risk – asylum seekers, new migrants, students and those working in the night-time economy. In only a quarter of the cases was the allegation of racism accepted and prosecuted as such, with racial motivation factored into sentencing. The over-strict interpretation of the legal provisions for racial motivation may be inhibiting the (racial) charging of perpetrators and in fact removing the racial context of a crime from the court room. It also appears that if authorities, including the police, had, on occasion, intervened earlier, against persistent harassment and low-level abuse, some deaths might have been prevented.

The European Migrant Workers Union and the barriers to transnational industrial citizenship

Despite the rapid increase in cross-national labour migration since EU enlargement in 2004, there has been little research on transnational union efforts to organize migrant workers. This article examines the European Migrant Workers Union, created by the German union IG BAU in a shift away from national protectionism towards transnational organizing. The initiative largely failed, primarily because of decisions by other unions to reject the transnational approach and instead to defend existing institutional arrangements. We argue that this inaction constitutes a setback for union reassertion of control over markets and for bringing industrial citizenship to Europe’s hyper-mobile workers.

Beyond ESOL? Assessing the propensity of east European migrant workers to undertake further and higher education

This article analyses the labour market participation of east Europeans living and working in East Staffordshire and Derby. It is based upon research which examines the qualifications and occupations of these migrant workers and which also seeks to ascertain their future intentions in respect of settlement, and the propensity to undertake education and training. The findings indicate that, while an overwhelming majority of east Europeans intend to remain in the UK, there is a substantial mismatch between the existing skills of migrant workers and the low-skill, low-wage jobs they perform. However, the limited propensity of local employers to train and the constraints of full-time work and family commitments, combined with a lack of information about training and education, mean that the capacity of migrant workers to improve their labour market position is in most, but not all cases, limited.

The Recruitment and Retention of Central and Eastern European Migrant Workers in the United Kingdom: A Panacea or a Problem under the New Policies of ‘Managed Migration’?

Pemberton S. and Stevens C. The recruitment and retention of Central and Eastern European migrant workers in the United Kingdom: a panacea or a problem under the new policies of ‘managed migration’?, Regional Studies. The latest changes in the UK government's managed migration policy with the introduction of a new Points-Based System have been recognized as privileging White European economic migrant workers – including those from Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries – at the expense of low-skilled (non-White) workers from outside of the European Union. However, analysis reveals that a series of recruitment and retention barriers may impinge upon the ‘effectiveness’ of such a strategy – particularly the intersection of CEE migrant ‘agency’ with labour market opportunities and UK immigration/welfare policies. In turn, a reassessment of the current approach to ‘managed migration’ is advocated. Pemberton S. et Stevens C. Recruter et sauvegarder les travailleurs immigrés de l'Europe centrale et orientale au Royaume-Uni (R-U): un atout ou un inconvénient en vertu des nouvelles politiques ‘d'immigration administrée’?, Regional Studies. On considère que les dernières modifications à la politique d'immigration administrée menée par le gouvernement au R-U, y compris la mise au point d'un système de points, favorisent les travailleurs immigrés pour des raisons économiques qui sont européens et blancs – y compris ceux qui proviennent des pays de l'Europe centrale et orientale (Peco) – au dépens des travailleurs non-qualifiés (de couleur) venant des pays au delà des frontières de l'Ue. Cependant, l'analyse laisse voir une série d'obstacles au recrutement et à la sauvegarde à franchir qui pourraient affecter ‘l'efficacité’ d'une telle stratégie – notamment l'intersection de ‘l'agence' des immigrés en provenance des Peco avec les possibilités d'emploi sur le marché du travail et les politiques du R-U quant à l'immigration/au bien-être. On prône également une réévaluation de l'approche actuelle à ‘l'immigration administrée’. Migrants venant des Peco pour des raisons économiques Recruter Sauvegarder ‘Agence’ Politique Pemberton S. und Stevens C. Anwerbung und Beibehaltung von Arbeitskräften aus Mittel- und Osteuropa in Großbritannien: Allheilmittel oder Problem unter der neuen Politik zur ‘kontrollierten Einwanderung’?, Regional Studies. Im Rahmen der neuesten Änderungen in der Politik der britischen Regierung zur kontrollierten Einwanderung wurde ein Punktesystem eingeführt, das nach allgemeinem Urteil weiße europäische Wirtschaftsmigranten (einschließlich der Migranten aus mittel- und osteuropäischen Staaten) gegenüber gering qualifizierten (nicht weißen) Arbeitnehmern aus Nicht-EU-Staaten bevorzugt. Allerdings zeigt sich bei einer Analyse, dass eine Reihe von Hindernissen für die Anwerbung und Beibehaltung von Arbeitskräften die ‘Wirksamkeit’ einer solchen Strategie beeinträchtigen könnte; dies gilt insbesondere für die Schnittstelle zwischen der Tätigkeit von Einwanderern aus Mittel- und Osteuropa und den Chancen auf dem Arbeitsmarkt sowie der Einwanderungs- und Sozialpolitik Großbritanniens. Aufgrund der Ergebnisse wird eine Neubewertung des derzeitigen Ansatzes für ‘kontrollierte Einwanderung’ befürwortet. Wirtschaftsmigranten aus Mittel- und Osteuropa Anwerbung von Arbeitskräften Beibehaltung von Arbeitskräften Tätigkeit Politik Pemberton S. y Stevens C. La captación y retención de los trabajadores emigrantes de Europa central y del este en el Reino Unido (RU): ¿una panacea o un problema bajo la nueva política de migración gestionada?, Regional Studies. En el marco de los últimos cambios en la política de migración gestionada del Gobierno británico, se ha introducido un nuevo sistema de puntos que favorece a los trabajadores emigrantes económicos europeos de raza blanca, incluyendo a los de países de Europa central y del este (ECE), a expensas de los trabajadores menos cualificados (no blancos) de fuera de la Unión Europea. Sin embargo, los análisis indican que una serie de obstáculos para la captación y retención podrían afectar a la eficacia de una estrategia como ésta, especialmente en cuanto a la intersección de las acciones de emigrantes de países de ECE con las oportunidades del mercado laboral y las políticas británicas sobre inmigración y bienestar. Debido a estos resultados abogamos por una revaloración del enfoque actual para la emigración gestionada. Emigrantes económicos de ECE Captación Retención Acciones Política

‘They More or Less Blended in with Society’: Changing Attitudes to European Migrant Workers in Post-war Lancashire

European volunteer workers have received comparatively little attention in the history of British post-war immigration, with greater coverage given to, for example, demobilised members of the Polish Resettlement Corps. This paper is based upon oral history interviews with a group of European immigrants, predominantly European volunteer workers, and local Lancastrians who started work in the Lancashire cotton industry between 1946 and 1951, and examines perceptions of how they integrated into British life in a variety of domains. The paper emphasises that ‘blending-in’ was context-dependent, with a sense of being welcomed and fitting-in applying to certain domains and in certain situations but not necessarily in others. It argues that migration fosters particular cultural attitudes and practices amongst both migrants and hosts as social identities are produced and reproduced, changed and challenged.

The posting of workers in the German construction industry: responses and problems of trade union action

Over the last two decades, in a number of EU Member States labour migration in the construction industry has predominantly taken the form of the posting of workers. This article traces the responses of the German construction union IG BAU to this phenomenon. To this end, it distinguishes between three levels of action: relations with the state, relations with employers and autonomous action. It shows that the union's efforts have concentrated on the first two levels. IG BAU's steps to include migrant workers into its ranks have been taken only cautiously. While the union has achieved a number of successes in terms of regulating the labour market, limits of these policies have become apparent. There are signs that IG BAU has reacted to these limits by developing more inclusive organisational policies, notably by founding the European Migrant Workers Union.

Legal Aspects of Cross-Border Rehabilitation to Work

This paper describes the legal situation of European migrant workers who are in need of rehabilitation. For the sick or disabled migrant worker, living in one country and having his/her workplace in another, rehabilitation often raises complicated issues which have to be solved by an equally complex framework of legal rules. In this article, Sweden-Norway is used as a cross-border example to illustrate the problems faced by an insured person and by the social security administration during rehabilitation. The legal problems are basically attributable to differences between social security systems within the EU. Rehabilitation cases are complicated by the fact that the support an individual needs is often not a single benefit. Instead rehabilitation involves a variety of different benefits regulated by different legal instruments. EC Reg. 1408/71 aims to co-ordinate and safeguard the social security rights of migrant workers. However, legal rehabilitation tools, such as sickness and health care benefits, are co-ordinated according to different criteria and special rules covering rehabilitation are not found in the regulation. This leads to a situation where a migrant worker can have the right to cash benefits from one country and health care benefits from another. The result is sometimes confusing, both for the individual and for the administration. The article explores and analyses this confusing situation, paying special attention to the question of legal certainty for the migrant worker.

The Limits to European Social Citizenship in the United Kingdom

The limitations surrounding eligibility for social security benefits involve many different, and often competing, policy decisions. One such set of restrictions, currently the cause of considerable public debate, is the limit imposed on the right to claim income-based social security benefits for those persons who, despite being citizens of a Member State of the European Union (EU), or a country within the European Economic Area,1 are not United Kingdom nationals. For a decade the right of such people to means-tested benefits was dependent on whether they were deemed to be'habitually resident' in the United Kingdom, a term laid down in Regulations.2 Article 39 EC explicitly provides for the free movement of workers throughout the EU, and European Regulation 1612/68 EEC3 allows workers from each Member State the same tax and social advantages as nationals of other Member States. But United Kingdom legislation has insisted that European migrant workers demonstrate at least some willingness to be both resident, and have some tangible connection to the nation before eligibility for incomebased out of work benefits is granted to them.4 The Social Security (Habitual Residence) Amendment Regulations 2004,5 which came into force on 1 May 2004 after a detailed report by the Social Security Advisory Committee,6 have replaced 'habitual residence' with the concept of 'right to reside' as the primary eligibility criterion for income-based unemployment and incapacity for work benefits. This entails that migrants from the more established EU countries must possess the right to reside and be habitually resi-

European Migrant Workers

Review of A Seventh Man: Migrant Workers in Europe text by John Berger, photographs by Jean Mohr.This article can also be found at the Monthly Review website, where most recent articles are published in full.Click here to purchase a PDF version of this article at the Monthly Review website.