Between Organising and Exclusion: Trade Union Strategies and Undocumented Migrant Workers
- Document number
- 2038
- Date
- 2007
- Title
- Between Organising and Exclusion: Trade Union Strategies and Undocumented Migrant Workers
- Author/publisher
- Özge Berber Agtas, Beate Amler and Luciole Sauviat
- Availability
- View/save PDF version of this document
- Document type(s)
- Research/Study/Analysis,
- Keywords
- Migrant rights; Migration management; Comprehensive approach to migration; Migration policy; Restrictive migration measures, Irregular Migration, Feminization of migration, Economic migration, Labour migration, Free movement, Undocumented migrants; Undocumented labour;
- Summary
- Undocumented migrants or migrants with precarious residence status are generally also vulnerable workers. Some of the problems that these workers face are: bad pay, no accident insurance, employers withholding pay, long working hours and sexual harassment. Trade unions are organisations dedicated to defending labour's interests, however, some also deal with broader issues that concern migrant workers in general and undocumented migrant workers in particular. One of the well-known mottos of the organised working class is the notion of solidarity; ideally, this maxim should extend to all workers. Some unions throughout the world have organised undocumented migrants, for instance the Sindicato de Obreros Del Campo (SOC) in Spain. Others have defended the rights of undocumented workers, such as the education union of Solidaires Unitaires Démocratiques (SUD Éducation) in France. There are even examples of some undocumented migrants who have founded their own unions like the Seoul Gyeonggi- Incheon Migrants Trade Union (MTU) in South Korea. Additionally, unions in the West are slowly becoming more inclusive of migrants issues in order to ensure their future relevance (Piper w.y.). Nevertheless, more often than not, unions do not concern themselves with undocumented/precarious migrant workers or even pursue their interests.
- Related documents