Low paid work and resilient geographies of a
migrant division of labour in London
Cathy McIlwaine and Kavita Datta
School of Geography
Migration and Low Pay in London
London School of Economics and
Political Science
9 June 2014
Structure
• ‘The migrant division of labour’: From boom to
bust
• Transnational geographies of the migrant division
of labour during recession in London
• Surviving the migrant division of labour during
recession in London
• Conclusions: Sustainable London, sustainable
migration?
Research
Three research projects undertaken between 2004 and 2011
• Global Cities at Work (Wills, Datta, May and McIlwaine, 20042010) (ESRC)
– 424 questionnaires; 103 in-depth interviews with low-paid migrant workers from East
and Central Europe, Africa and Latin America working in care, hotels and catering,
cleaning (office and the Underground), food manufacturing, construction + survey with
105 cleaners with single employer in Canary Wharf
• Migrants and their Money (Datta, 2010-2012) (Friends
Provident Foundation)
– 319 questionnaires,89 in-depth interviews and 3 focus groups with Brazilian, Bulgarian,
Turkish, Somali and Polish migrants (this presentation draws upon research with
Bulgarian migrants = 54 questionnaires; 24 in-depth interviews and 1 focus group (9
participants, 6 men and 3 women)
• No Longer Invisible (McIlwaine, 2010-2011) (Trust for London)
-
1041 questionnaires; 50 in-depth interviews, 4 focus groups with Latin American
migrants and 15 interviews with community representatives from the Latin
American community
‘The migrant division of labour’: From boom to bust
• Increased reliance of global cities on migrant
labour
• Economic restructuring > de-regulation and
sub-contraction, declining access to welfare,
restrictive immigration regime = created
‘migrant division of labour’ at bottom end of
the economy
• MDL > serves needs of cities and their
sustainability
• MDL entrenched during recession as
exploitation of migrants increases
The ‘migrant division of labour’: From boom to bust in
London
• Eve of recession - immigration at
historically high levels in UK (doubling of UK
foreign-born population 1993-2011 from
3.8 million to 7 million)
• London - by 2011 > 2.6 million foreign-born
people comprising 42% of population (32%
in 2006). 70% from developing countries
• Pre-recession labour market =
simultaneous professionalization, economic
inactivity and growth of ‘working poor’
The ‘migrant division of labour’: From boom to bust in
London
• Concentration of migrant workers in low end
low skilled jobs also shaped by radical
overhaul of the British immigration system
• As migration increased – shift to ‘managed
migration’ policies
• Resulting > poor working conditions
endured by many low paid migrant workers
in London
• In recession > demand for migrant labour
remained resilient in low-paid sectors of
London BUT conditions worsened
Transnational geographies of the migrant division of
labour during recession in London
• Need to recognise the spatialities of low-paid migrants
responses to economic downturn
• Evidence suggests that migrants i) continue to arrive and
ii) continue to secure work
• 50% of Bulgarians arrived between 2007-2011; 25% of
Latin Americans migrated between 2008-2010
• High employment rates = MDL remains intact - 96%
Bulgarians and 85% of Latin Americans interviewed
working
• Low-paid migrants move for economic betterment:
– Delmar, 32, Ecuadorian: ‘I came here because of the economic
crisis in my country … it’s still better here, here I can make
plans’
• Intensification of transnational flows of people, goods and
services during downturn
– secondary movement of people increases
– tangible and intangible ties among migrants in different
countries multiply
– among Latin Americans > 36.5% had migrated from
intermediate country before UK – 38% from Spain
– Liliana, 45, Colombian migrated from Gran Canaria in 2009
where she had lived for 11 years. Her hours of work as
security guard in shopping mall were reduced by recession.
Moved to London and found work in office cleaning
• Increase in irregular entry during recession (24% all
irregular Latin Americans entered 2008-2009)
• Irregular migrants most exploited > withholding wages,
harassment
• Creation of complex transnational household
structures underpinned by economic recession
• Daniel, 44, Ecuadorian lost job in Spain, moved
to London 2009. Left wife and children creating
transnational household: ‘Economics, that was
the reason I moved to London – for work and I
have to pay off my housing debts there. But my
emotional life has changed because I had to
leave my wife and children in Spain’
• Therefore, economic crisis prompts migration
from home countries, but also fuels secondary
and irregular migration with all their associated
vulnerabilities
Surviving the migrant division of labour during
recession in London
• MDL has remained intact during recession with migrants labour market
precarity further intensified
• MUTLIPLE and interlocking vunerabilities
– Fears relating to, and actual, JOB LOSESES
• Evidence of deskilling: Danilo from Colombia who had worked as
an architect before the recession but then as a waiter “because
of the crisis...construction was affected and so were architecture
companies...the large projects stopped and so they began to let
staff go”
• Fear that clients would loose their jobs “I am afraid the financial
sector could collapse. That is my only concern...I also loose
clients because not all people can afford cleaning services
anymore.” (Ivana, Bulgarain, working as a cleaner)
Surviving the migrant division of labour during
recession in London
• Wage erosion & increased expectations:
“I am paid less for the same work I did before and the cut is both
as payment per hour and as cut of number of hours I am paid
for. It is hard to manage financially, especially lately in the time
of the crisis. I started feeling it 6 months ago. I work as a subcontractor, they [the agency he works for] call me when there is
work for me, they cut the hours and the money per hour lately.
The payment was £11 per hour, how it is £9 per hour. I am paid
for 8 hours per day, and we work 10 hours, they do not pay the
time envisaged for rest now, and they used to pay it before.’
(Ivan, Bulgarian, construction worker)
• Similar vulnerability evident among self-employed
migrants
Surviving the migrant division of labour during
recession in London
• Deteriorating relations between workers
• Increased competition between ‘legal’ and ‘irregular’ migrants José (from Colombia worked as a cleaner): ‘There are more
people coming to London now and the legals are taking the jobs.
If someone is working without papers they have to leave to let the
legal ones work. The recession is making it really hard for illegals
at work and the legals look down on those with no papers’.
• Increased tensions between migrants and British
born workers Diddi (Bulgaria,cleaner): ‘I see it, the recession –
the bars are empty, people do not spend as much, as they did, they
are nervous, they become more like us Bulgarians, there are more
people in Primark - it is not accidental.’
Surviving the migrant division of labour during
recession in London
• Migrants broader well being undermined
-‘Insecurity with work and finance leads to stress
which affects personal life, people tend to be
more impatient with their partners and the
availability of extra time gives more opportunities
for arguments. In many cases one of the parties
has to carry most of financial burden and if the
union is not strong enough it causes problems.’
(Bulgarian focus group participant)
Strategising to cope
• Securing additional jobs or working
longer hours – ’There is less work lately
which is less money so I have to find more
sources to get money. It is psychologically
difficult. I am considering going for cleaning.’
(Angelina, Bulgarian, waitress)
• ‘You have to tighten your belt, to eat less,
that’s the strategy and to work more.’
(Alberto, Ecuadorian, office cleaner):
Strategising to cope: Geographical responses
RETURN MIGRATION
(i) migrants ‘returning back’
(ii) sticking it out in London
(iii) Planning to stay longer than anticipated due to
recession
‘[the recession] has affected me yes, I wanted to
return home much faster, but now I need to wait
longer until my new project comes through and I
make more money’. (Cesar, 40 years old, Ecuador,
dentist)
Geographical dimensions of coping
• Recession & remittances – overall impact
geographically varied with remittances declining
less and recovering faster than ODA and FDI
• This said marked decline as noted by Dario
(Bolivian chef) ‘Now it isn’t like before. Before I
sent a lot of money, but in the last 3 months, I
have reduced it and I’ve sent less. Before I sent
60% of my salary, now I send 40%.’
Geographical dimensions of coping
• Evidence of reverse remittances – Cesario
(Colombiaian moved to London in 2008 after 10 years
in Spain) received a monthly allowance from his wife
in Colombia taken from their savings when he lost his
job as a cleaner to tide him over until he secured
another job (whereas previously he had sent £3000
per year).
• Global nature of recession meant that some
migrants had to intensify remittance sending
‘What I sent before used to cover the needs of my
family, but now no. For example, if I sent 500 dollars 3
years ago, now I have to send 1000 to buy the same
things.’ (Alfonso, Bolivia)
Conclusions
• MDL which emerged during the boom years of
London’s growth has intensified during recession
• Attributable to evolution of welfare and
immigration reform and a continued demand for
labour in lower echelons of London’s economy
• Working conditions have worsened with myriad
local and transnational implications for migrants
• Important to recognise spatialities of recession
• ‘Sustainability’ of London’s economy continues to
depend upon (socially) unsustainable and unjust
MDL