Challenges Faced by Trade Unions in Organizing Migrant Workers in UK - Essay Example

Challenges Faced by Trade Unions in Organizing Migrant Workers in UK All over the world, trade unions have been instrumental in fighting for the rights of workers, making sure that workers are paid and treated as they deserve. In the United Kingdom, trade unions have played a crucial role not only in the fight for workers rights but they have played a vital part in shaping the political scene in the United Kingdom. A good example of how labour unions have shaped the politics of the United Kingdom is by considering the Labour Party. The political party started off as just a trade organization but grew so much to the point that it ended up forming the government for many years. Trade unions are necessary in the United Kingdom because; the help in the selection and recruitment of workers. They do this by ensuring that the process of selection and recruitment of workers is done in an open manner and that people are hired based on their academic qualifications or merits (McGovern, 2007). This ensures that nepotism and corruption does not take place when people are being considered to be hired. Trade unions also help in settling industrial disputes in the United Kingdom in a manner which is rational. Trade unions act as mediators between workers and their employers in case here is any dispute regarding payment, benefits or working conditions. Trade unions represent the workers and allow a sitting from which they can negotiate the issues in question with the employers making sure that both the workers and their employers are satisfied by the decision they arrive at. In their functions, trade unions in the United Kingdom are expected to uphold social responsibilities because these unions are considered to be part and parcel of society. Making sure that there is industrial peace is one such social responsibility that is expected of trade unions not only in the United Kingdom but also in other countries (McGovern, 2007). Trade unions should ensure that there is industrial peace by ensuring that workers strikes and demonstration do not occur (Nickell and Salaheen, 2008). They should do this by making sure that all disputes between workers and their employers are settled in a civil manner which will not disrupt the country. In the United Kingdom, trade unions that are specifically meant for workers who are migrants. Such workers unions specifically cater for the needs of workers who are not citizens of the United Kingdom. Other trade unions have also started taking concern of the issues that migrant workers are facing (Mc Govern, 2007). One advantage that the United Kingdom is that it has a huge supply of labour especially from workers who come from outside the United Kingdom. According to a survey done by the by Labour Force Survey (ONS), growth in employment in the United Kingdom (CIPD, 2013). From the year 2002 to 201e number of United Kingdom workers employed remained the same for the period of the ten years. At the same time, the number of migrant workers who were employed during this time increased. This conclusion was arrived at because despite the fact that the number of United Kingdom born workers hired did not steadily increase the overall number of workers hired by 1.7 million workers (CIPD, 2013). In these ten years, the number of migrant workers grew from nine percent to 14 percent of the total workforce signifying that migrant workers play a huge function the United Kingdom's economy (CIPD). However, this workforce from migrants is comprised mostly of people from Europe. This is as a result of immigration laws that have been put in place b the United Kingdom government limiting immigration of the number of non European Union immigrants. This law was introduced in the year 2010, and it was later implemented fully in the year 2011. Employers in the United Kingdom were seriously opposed to this law. They were also supported by trade unions and business organizations because they felt that it would result in negative consequences to the country's economy. One reason why such a law will result in the country suffering economically is because migrants often supply labour which is not expensive. This is because when such people come to the United Kingdom they come looking for greener pastures. When one compare the countries from which these workers come from, one will find that their country of origin is mostly poorer than the United Kingdom hence the wages they were being paid back at home were awful compared to the minimum wage limit in the United Kingdom (Nickell and Salaheen, 2008). So when they come to the United Kingdom, they feel that what employees are willing to pay is more than enough hence the work with no grievances since they feel they are been paid well. People who migrate into the United Kingdom from the European Union are allowed to seek employment in the United Kingdom without the need to acquire working permits. The United Kingdom is one of the few countries that allow migrant workers to find employment without the need of acquiring work permits (Ruhs, 2006). However, people who migrate into the United Kingdom from other regions such as Africa need to get work permits in order for them to get employment in the United Kingdom. By doing soothe government limited the migrant workforce that was high before the implementation of the law in 2011. Trade unions meet a lot of challenges especially when it comes to organizing migrant workers in the United Kingdom. One major problem that has faced trade unions in organizing migrant workers is the fact that not all migrants who are working have working permits hence, they cannot register as members of trade unions. This is because in order for a migrant to be registered as a member of a trade union, they must register themselves with the government for tax purposes. Since most migrant workers do not have work permits, they often seek employment in secrecy so that the government does not catch up with them (Nickell and Salaheen, 2008). Employers always take advantage of this because it means that they are able to pay the workers minimal wages. This prevents the trade unions from fighting for the rights of such workers because these migrant workers will continue working despite their employees mistreating them. When action is taken against such employees, no legal action can be taken because their workers are not registered with the government hence they do not exist. Another challenge that trade unions face when organizing migrant workers is the opposition from the public. United Kingdom born citizens usually feel that migrant people usually take up a lot of job opportunities because they are believed to be much more hardworking by employers and are usually contented with low wages (Nikell and Salaheen, 2008). Due to this, United Kingdom citizens feel that the migrants are to be blamed for the lack of job opportunities in the Country and the low wages that are common in the country as a result when trade union try to fight for the rights of migrant workers they do not get the support they need from United kingdom’s citizens, which in turn reflects to politicians and the government since they want to do what is right by their citizens (Dustmann & Fabbri &Preston, 2005). Trade unions face challenges when it comes to defending the rights of migrant workers is the fact that a large number of migrant workers are usually people who have no professional skill. This creates a problem because such workers will look for employment irrespective of how low they are paid because they do not have enough qualifications that require them to compete with other workers who are United Kingdom's citizens and they have the required profession. This is a challenge to the trade unions in issues such as pay rises. This is because fighting for pay increases for unskilled labourers is normally extremely difficult because they are not considered as an investment. The issue of unskilled migrant workers has been a key issue in the United Kingdom to the point that the government took up measures to ascertain that it minimizes the number of unskilled workers in the United Kingdom. For example, according to the United Kingdom government website, the government barred the migration of unskilled workers into the United Kingdom in 2012 (GOV.UK, 2013). The government argues that the country should only allow workers who will add value to the county’s economy hence it should only allow those people with professional skills to do this. In the past twenty years trade unions have reacted differently to migration into the United Kingdom. Some trade unions have opposed migration laws while others have supported them. A good example is trade unions that have supported the government’s immigration restriction. Most trade unions such as the National Union of Maritime workers has openly supported migration laws that restrict the migration of unskilled workers from entering the United Kingdom because they feel that they bring a lot of competition to UK born workers in the industry. According to Connolly & Lucio & Marino, in the past twenty years, trade unions have influenced employment relations especially for migrant workers in Europe specifically in the United Kingdom (Connolly & Lucio & Marino, 2011). One such influence is the approach trade unions have taken to ensure that migrant workers in the United Kingdom are organized and mobilized to ensure that they receive fair treatment from both the government and their employers. Trade unions have over the years ensured that issues such as working time, flexibility and pay have are mediated on behalf of migrant workers instead of focusing on migration laws set by the government. For example in the year 2002, the European migrant workers Union helped a lot of migrant workers whose work permits had expired to be extended (Connolly & Lucio & Marino). Trade unions have also targeted working areas which are saturated with migrant workers in order to ensure they give them adequate representation. A good example of industries which have a lot of migrant workers is the transport industry which in has employed a lot of unskilled migrant workers Trade unions should do more to make sure that migrant workers rights should be respected and upheld by all employers (Miliband, 2012). Migrant workers should also ensure that they pressure their trade unions to ensure that their rights of workers are upheld and respected. As it is, known a worker who is adequately motivated will result in optimum output hence more profits being made by the country in general. References Anderson B & Clark N & Parutis V.(ND). New EU Members? Migrant Workers’ Challenges and Opportunities to UK Trades Unions: a Polish and Lithuanian Case Study. Connolly, H. & Lucio, M. & Marino, S. (2011). Comparing and Contrasting Trade Union Responses to Questions of Migration: A Comparison of Union Strategies for Decent Work in the Netherlands, Spain and the United Kingdom. CIPD 2013. The State of Migration: Employing Migrant Workers, London. Dustmann,C., F. Fabbri, and I. Preston. 2005. The Impact of Immigration on the UK Labour Market, Economic Journal 115. Gov. UK . 2013. Automatic settlement for unskilled workers to end: Accessed April 17 2013 {www.gov.uk/government/news/automatic-settlement-for-unskilled-workers-to-end} McGovern, P. 2007. Immigration, Labour Markets and Employment Relations Problems and Prospects, British Journal of Industrial Relations 45(2): 217–35. Miliband. E. 2012. Speech by Ed Miliband given with the Institute for Public Policy Research, 22 June, Labour Party, London. Nickell, S. and J. Salaheen. 2008. The Impact of Immigration on Occupational Wages: British , Nuffield College, Oxford. Ruhs, M. 2006. Greasing the wheels of the flexible labour market: East European Labour immigration in the UK, Compas 38. Read More