Migration and trade unions – migrant labour struggles and challenges for organising

In this edition of Reshaping Work Onward, organised by the Global Labour University, trade unionists, scholars and activists participated in an exciting discussion on labour migration and organising. 

While the free movement of goods and capital has been widely advocated by mainstream economists and politicians as a way to promote progress, there has been much less enthusiasm about allowing the free movement of people with full respect for their rights as workers. This has contributed to making migrant workers vulnerable. Trade unions have played a key part in protecting these workers, even in the face of deliberate attempts by capital to divide and rule. Unions have however not been immune to anti-migrant sentiments, have shown at times reluctance to organise migrant workers, or struggled with finding the most effective organising strategy.

The protection of migrant workers by trade unions is all the more important in the context of neoliberal trends that exacerbate the global nature of labour markets combined with right-wing anti-migrant policies. It is therefore important to create space for an open engagement on the complex challenges facing migrants, trade unions and activists, as well as on positive examples of responses to changing migration patterns, whether in the area of innovative forms of organising; or the development of transnational trade union networks.

The workshop discussed the challenges posed by changing migration patterns, as well as union and civil society responses to these challenges in order to build stronger and more inclusive organisations.

Read the post-event discussion report here. https://onward.reshapingwork.net/publications/