Global change 59
collaboration Cross border
Migration and workplace inclusion have remained centre-stage as the European Union (EU) continues to enlarge. A study by a team at our Global Economy and Business Research Unit (GEBRU) about how British and Polish trade unions worked together to promote integration provides valuable lessons for other EU countries opening up their labour markets.
After eight new member states joined the EU in 2004, an estimated one million migrant workers came to the UK. This mass influx, particularly from Poland, brought economic and cultural benefits. However, it also threatened to undermine integration in general, and especially in the workplace.
The Head of GEBRU Professor Jane Hardy is an authority on the transformation of post-communist economies in Europe. She has researched and published widely on the subject and is the author of Poland’s New Capitalism, which explores the effects of free market reforms since the collapse of communism. Poland has been a special focus of her work since she first visited the country in 1993, and she maintains close links with academics in Warsaw and Krakow.
As part of a project for The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), Professor Hardy has examined how British unions went about recruiting
Picture description
and organising Polish migrant workers in the mid 2000s.
She explains, ‘From the trade union perspective there were two key issues. Not only was the scale of the migration much larger than expected, but migration movements were also more fluid and transitory than in previous waves. This has had profound implications for integration and cohesion in the workplace.’
Our researchers looked at national level initiatives taken by the Trades Union Congress, three other British unions and the main trade union federations in Poland – Solidarity, OPZZ and Forum ZZ. One of the aims was to establish how far this collaboration was reflected in the practices of trade unions in UK and Polish regions, chosen for their contrasting industrial structures and union traditions. The team interviewed key union officials, and gathered information from migrant workers about their experiences in individual workplaces.
Professor Hardy says, ‘It was clear that there was an active commitment on the part of the unions to engage with migrant workers in an inclusive and positive way. Our research also underlined the importance of local, regional, national and international links in terms of recruitment and organisation.’
The main findings have been presented at several high-profile conferences attended by senior
people in government, industry and the academic world. Professor Hardy has also provided input to the European Science Foundation’s Forward Look initiative, which sets the research agenda within the European scientific community. This will assist politicians, trade unions and other stakeholders as they prepare for the opening of the German labour market in 2012.
As well as highlighting good practice approaches to workplace cohesion, this project has stimulated greater collaboration on the issue of migration. Academics and researchers are now working together to promote comparative analysis. Most importantly, a permanent network of non-governmental organisations and trade union members is now in place to aid future cooperation and communication.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72