Unions and Migration in the UK:
Rights, Strategies and Dilemmas
Dr Heather Connolly, DeMontfort University,
Professor Miguel Martinez Lucio
and Dr Stefania Marino,
University of Manchester
IER November 2013
Social Inclusion, Unions and Migration:
Research Outline
• 3 year comparative project (2008-2011), funded by the
Leverhulme Trust
• Development of trade union responses in relation to
immigration:
– How and why they vary between countries
– What responses at the European level
• Comparing: the Netherlands, Spain, and the UK
– Qualitative methodology
• Publications in the Journal of Business Ethics (2011), Urban
Studies (2012), Journal of Industrial Relations (2013),
European Journal of Industrial Relations (forthcoming,
2014)
Employment Relations and Immigration
• Research on industrial relations aspects of immigration
increasing due to:
 Labour market issues
• Traditional patterns of migration: problem of segregation and
exclusion
• Disorganisation and deregulation of labour markets
• New waves of migration: EU enlargement and continuous cycles
of migration and mobility
 New forms of racism and xenophobia
 Language of vulnerability and vulnerable workers and
policy focus on social inclusion and cohesion in terms of
the effects of economic and social fragmentation
Trade Union Strategies in the UK
1970s-1990s
 Emergence of anti-Fascist campaigns
 Tradition of voluntarism and deregulation but socio-legal
context supporting equality in various ways since the 1970s
 The role of unions in seeking legal solutions and
innovations
 The role of autonomous sections and interests within some
key unions
 Internal training and race awareness developments
Union responses towards migrant workers
1990s-to the present
 Organising approach: reaching out to new
constituencies
 Learning agenda: help to reach migrant workers (ESOL
etc)
 Specific community campaigns defending vulnerable
workers: London Citizens; Living wage – community
dimensions
 Campaigns against racism and the far right in local
communities and role of regional union structures
 Special policies for BME groups and migrants
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Self-organising in the 1980s
Steady evolution of equality strategies within trade unions
Provision of translated documents websites etc
In some unions creation of separate branches for migrant workers
Outcomes
 Trade union movement in the UK as elsewhere has had
some success in engaging with migrant workers in the
workplace through:
• Organising and Structure e.g. UNISON’s Migrant Worker
Participation Project
• Contribution to a new language of community
engagement albeit a flexible one – alliance building in
GMB
• Learning particularly around ESOL training – UCATT
• Campaigns around forwarding the rights and position of
BME and migrant workers within trade unions and in the
workplace
Challenges to trade union responses
 The union movement is unable to rely on the state for
support in terms of collective rights and regulation. This has
meant that unions constantly need to innovate and engage
with regards to membership and workforce, but much of the
activity is reliant on a particular set of circumstances (a
strong union branch, committed union officers or external
funding).
 Problems of level of state funding: reliance on funding
streams such as ULF or UMF
 Challenge of co-ordination across unions and at regional
level – the role of activists and networks working in parallel
modes
Limitations of trade union action
 The limitations of community and organising approaches:
concerns with absence of a clear territorial dimension and
community presence. A failure of locally and community
based relations and external alliances has meant that such
innovation has not always been supported in terms of
consistent structures at local level and within civil society.
 The disconnection with previous forms of BME democratic
participation – the position of traditional debates about black
worker sections for examples and East European migration
 Changing political context in terms of the new politics of antimigration and the increasing xenophobia around national
identity
Language, terminology and migration
 Trade unions and the transformation of debate by using
the language of ‘vulnerability to stretch the issue of
inclusion, to include race ad migration issues in a broader
tapestry of work related politics - but also as a ‘safe
haven’ for locating a range of challenging issues and
sensitivities.
 Potential for trade unions to be confronted by past
dilemmas in relation to migration such as whether they
should resist immigration in response to member pressure
(see Penninx and Roosblad, 2000) for eg the ‘British
Jobs’ debate, aspects of Lindsay Oil Workers Dispute.
Mainstreaming and quasi-managerialisation of
equality within trade unions
• The separate representation based on identity may be a way
of culturally embed difference and institutionalise race and
race relations. Within trade unions this can lead to a depoliticisation of anti-racist struggles (e.g. of specific workers
sections becoming an ‘end’ rather than a ‘means to an end’).
• Our research shows that some black activists feel that the
issue of ‘new migrant workers’ has weakened the anti-racism
debate which has led to strengthening of resistance to change
to more mainstream approach to equality.
• The development of a ‘project management’ mindset partly
linked to the manner of funding and project work unions
increasing engage with means that there is a real potential for
fragmentation and complexity.
• Issues around migration may be organised by different
departments and there may be a problem of dialogue within
unions across projects and internal organisational structures
linked to equality, migration, organising, learning, etc.