The link between outbreaks of Covid-19 at meat processing plants and the sector’s widespread exploitation of migrant workers on low pay and insecure contracts ‘must be addressed’, Unite said last…Read more…
Fair Fringe call
A former Edinburgh Fringe worker has spoken out about suffering a breakdown after being exploited and paid “slave” wages. Shira Kaliski, 25, blew the whistle on working conditions at events…Read more…
NUJ calls on members to back Dutch photojournalists’ campaign 25/1 – 26/1/2019
The NUJ has expressed solidarity and support for the 456 photojournalists in the Netherlands who are taking strike action on Friday 25 January 2019. The Dutch union Nederlands Vereniging van…Read more…
Immigration – confusion and inaction from government
The Home Secretary’s announcement yesterday on post-Brexit immigration plans was barely out the door before the government’s all-encompassing confusion over Brexit enveloped it. Amber Rudd’s junior minister, Brandon Lewis, contradicted her spin if not her substance, almost…Read more…
Putting the foxes in charge of the migration hen house
The Financial Times has a story today (behind the paywall) suggesting that the government’s new visa system for EU migrants will have to be enforced not by the Home Office or the Borders Agency but by employers, landlords and universities, because of cuts to the civil service. That would,…Read more…
New institutions needed to address concerns about migration
The Government has decided that ‘taking back control’ of the UK’s borders is more important than anything else, more important in particular than working people’s jobs and living standards. Even if immigration numbers don’t actually come down as a result, the…Read more…
One day without us: fairness for migrants & a better deal for all
Today, Monday 20 February, is UN world day of social justice, with the global theme of preventing conflict and sustaining peace through decent work. So it’s appropriate that grassroots…Read more…
Tackling precarious work & addressing migration concerns
Last week I spoke at a conference organised by the TUC and Exeter University on ‘Confronting change: Globalization, Migration and Precarious Labour in the Age of Brexit.’ This is a summary of my speech. As conditions have become more insecure for workers since 2006 – a recent TUC report showed 1 in…Read more…
As an Uber driver I’m sick and tired of losing out
Drivers won a pivotal victory in a case taken by my union, GMB against Uber that proved that they really are employees and not “partners” as the company always says. Our win is about keeping hold of…Read more…
Even with Brexit deal unknown, the government can act now to manage migration better
While there is still considerable uncertainty about whether or how free movement will feature in any Brexit negotiation, today the TUC has released the report Managing migration better for Britain. It makes clear there are actions the government could take now which would tackle the negative…Read more…
What Byron Burgers (and Casablanca) tell us about policing migration
A lot has been written about the immigration raids at Byron Burger restaurants across London a month ago which saw 35 people arrested and led to protests recently. Many have criticised the company for getting more involved than legally necessary, where…Read more…
EU acts against exploitation of migrants. Bit late.
Last month, before the referendum, I took part in a meeting of the Executive Committee of the European Trade Union Confederation in Brussels. The European Commissioner for Social Affairs, Belgian liberal Marianne Thyssen, addressed the meeting and disc…Read more…
Unions cry foul as European proposals to tackle exploitation of migrants face yellow card
I’ve written before about how the European Union provides the best opportunity to prevent the exploitation of workers who are temporarily posted to other EU countries (and thus the undercutting of the existing workforce.) The best avenue for such action would be revising the EU’s Posted Workers’…Read more…
Australia’s migration system wouldn’t work here either
When supporters of tougher immigration controls are asked what system they would introduce, they often point to Australia’s points-based system. I often get the feeling that this is as much an appeal to old Commonwealth ties as much as a rational answer to the question, with potentially…Read more…
Lords call for Immigration Bill to give asylum seekers right to work and protect domestic workers
On Monday the Immigration Bill will start to be debated by the House of Lords select committee. As I have blogged previously, the Bill contains a number of threats for workers. It will introduce measures to criminalise undocumented workers that will make it easier for bad bosses to exploit migrants…Read more…
Cracking down on migrants or on exploitation?
The Home Office Immigration Minister James Brokenshire MP (who, lest we forget, replaced Mark Harper MP in the role after Harper was exposed as having employed an ‘illegal immigrant’ as his cleaner) has announced a crackdown on those who employ illegal immigrants, promising Border Force…Read more…
Temporary migration in Australia: a cautionary tale
Australia is known as a settler nation (although the Australian unions are careful to acknowledge their debt to the people who cared for the land before Europeans arrived.) But more recently, what started as a way to plug short-term recruitment and ski…Read more…
End exploitation of young vulnerable workers
#stuc15 The STUC will press the Scottish Government to set up and fund an STUC administered vulnerable workers’ project as part of a wide ranging strategy to end the exploitation of young vulnerable workers in the fast food and related sectors.
Delegates condemned discriminatory practices which adversely affect all low paid, unorganised workers, but which particularly impact on young workers.Read more…
#IAmAnImmigrant – poster campaign launch
This is the speech Mohammed Taj gave to the launch in Congress House of the I Am An Immigrant poster campaign. Last year I became the first South Asian born President of the TUC and this year I am…Read more…
Bright Blue on migration: bright enough, but in the end, too blue
Soft left Conservative think tank Bright Blue has hit the headlines with a new report on what the centre right should be saying about migration this week. In what was mostly newsworthy as an attack from within on the ridiculous Government policy of capping net migration, there are some good ideas,…Read more…