The global work market

Lecture Professor Sonia McKay

Working Lives Research Institute, London Metropolitan University

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09.10-09.30 Short lecture on global labour

market

09.30-10.00 Undocumented migration – a case

study of the restaurant sector in London

10.00-10.05 Break

10.05-10.10 Explanation of group work

10.10-10.40 Group work

10.40-10.50 Group work presentations

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Discrimination in the EU in 2012 (Special Eurobarometer

393: ◦ http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_393_en.pdf

◦ Bloch, A. and McKay, S. (2014) ‘Hidden dishes – how food gets on to

our plates: undocumented migrants and the restaurant and takeaway

sector’, Journal of Workplace Rights, Baywood Publishing.

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A rebuilding of collective organisation – particularly in those

countries that emerged from a fascist past

Growth of worker organisation in the industrialised nations;

New models of worker organisation – from the works councils

of Germany and France to the unionisation of workers in

countries like the UK and Ireland

Large-scale migration from the global South but also from

Southern Europe towards the North, the Americas and Australia;

1968 and is aftermath for worker struggle

EU legislation from 1970 onwards but also replicated in national

laws

A focus on social partnership

Thatcher in the UK but followed by similar policies in

other EU states;

Worldwide growth of industrialisation – India, China,

Korea, South America

A policy on privatisation through the industrialised

world

A decline in trade union numbers and influence

A retreat from collective organisation and social

partnership

A rise in inequality / growth in intolerance and racism

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6

The spirit level, Wilkinson and Pickett

Unequal societies are dis-functional societies

Happiness curves flatten at around $25,000 income

Economic development boosts life expectancy only in its

early stages;

Income differences within the same populations matter for

death rates

More equal: Japan, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Belgium

Less equal: Singapore, USA, Portugal, UK, Australia, New Zealand.

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Their conclusion

‘The evidence strongly suggests that narrowing income

differences within rich countries will make them more

responsive to the needs of poorer countries’

More equal countries give more in foreign aid

More equal countries are less belligerent

More equal countries display greater concern for the

environment

Inequalities affect the way people treat each other

Inequality affects trust, community life and violence

Undocumented migration: working, health and conditions in the restaurant sector

Case study and discussion

Professor Sonia McKay

Working Lives Research Institute, London Metropolitan University

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Interviews with 55 undocumented migrants from Bangladesh, Turkey

and China together with interviews with 24 employers from the same

countries of origin

Main findings: ◦ Immigration rules create skill shortages

◦ Small profit margins encourage low paying work

◦ Workers seemed powerless but nevertheless exercised agency

◦ There was a system, despite the absence of rules – workers knew what the

rates of pay were

◦ There was movement between jobs and exit was a strategy of agency

◦ There were systems of progression: time; training; co-workers; family; skill

shortages

Conditions generally poor

Long working hours

Six to seven day working

Working in conditions of risk

Physiological factors: raids; deportation

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Students will divide into four groups.

Each group will select someone to direct the production;

Each group will draw a topic for the theme of their play;

Students will have 30 minutes to produce a script for short

play lasting no longer than three to five minutes and set in

a restaurant either in the front restaurant or back kitchen;

Students will then perform their play.

The ‘ReACH High’ Oscars will be awarded for the best script,

the best actors and best director.

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A play in one Act

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A play in one Act

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Yes, but they came for somebody else following a tip off. They succeeded in what they came for, checked us and let us go. The person

that I worked for sold his restaurant so I had nowhere to stay and was asked to look for another job. He took his brother in but asked me to

look elsewhere.

Well, I was once taken by the police outside a tube station… They got me into their car and somewhere on the journey to the police

station, they opened the door and told me to get my bag and go… I was arrested by the police outside a tube station. I carried a bag with

me so they (Police) thought I was selling DVDs. But actually what I had inside was all instant noodles…, the stuff for my survival needs.

A: That’s right. They go back voluntarily. But there are also many who were sent back [by the authorities]. They were arrested by the

police and were later sent by to China.

No. It didn’t. The boss found new workers to replace those who had been taken away by the police.

Q: Was the boss fined [for employing undocumented workers]?

A: I don’t know. I had left there before they went there to arrest people. I don’t know what happened to them, because by then I had

already left the place.

The house where we stayed was raided by Home Office officers. They raided the house without warning. There might have been a tip-off

by someone; so the police raided the house suddenly. He was arrested and subsequently sent back home.

Well, we were taken by the police, too. We were required to report to the police station regularly. The police wanted to see our passport.

So I told him that I didn’t have one. That guy was the only person whose [Chinese] passport was taken by the police; he was taken to the

police station. The rest of us were given a piece of paper, with information requiring us to appear regularly at the police station.

They raided the house in the morning. It was at five o’clock in the morning that they came.

Apart from the two who had Chinese passports, we were not taken away by the police. Instead, the police gave us each a little note. The

note required us to appear at a police station later and then repeat the appearance regularly. The note contained details of the place that

we had to show up. However none of us was bothered to follow that instruction. We were too scared to turn up at the police station. We

thought we might be arrested and sent back home, once we get there.

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A play in one Act

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I go to the pharmacy and tell them what is wrong and get things like paracetamol. If I didn’t anything more serious then there is nothing I

can do. I think if they did something like look at people’s skills…I am a good builder…I worked for someone today all day for free. He is a

distant cousin…I worked there but I didn’t get any money.

I did ask but as I am in a weak position, I didn’t say too much. I cannot really demand money from him. I am not paying tax. Had he given

me £100 and I was paying tax then I would have given the government some money.

Well, I thought my date has expired and I cannot do anything as the employer had asked me for papers. We really are in a very weak

position the way things are now means we cannot work, live properly or tell anybody anything. We have no freedom. I had no intentions of

staying here but what can I do? Where can I go?

Employers tend to treat us bad, hassle us, mentality disturb us…and the people who are legally here, they treat us badly. This is how my

time is being spent here, I am mentally suffering. I am 37 years of age…

I love working but in Indian restaurants, people get no respect. People don’t get paid properly if they are illegal.

They would criticise me and say things like you wife has left you and stuff like that

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A play in one Act

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And I haven’t had the chance to get married or anything. People need a life partner.

: Do you have many relatives here?

A: There are people here but to help people like us, there is nobody.

Between 2004 and 2008 my value increased and my pay increased. They were nice people but there was always the thought amongst

them that immigration may come at any moment.

A: It has become very expensive to go out, after accommodation cost and transportation cost…transport is very costly here. The income I

have makes travel very costly. We may go to visit people from time to time but it is not possible to buy tickets on my income. For example,

museums, zoos or parks etc...

The food in restaurants is really bad. If staff in restaurants were to go the NHS, I am sure they would get treatment. I asked why they don’t

go and they said they were afraid they would get caught and sent back.

A: Those that work in restaurants do a variety of things, they don’t have their families with them and they need to occupy themselves

particularly those that are illegals as they definitely would not have their families with them. Sometimes people would go to pubs or clubs

but you might see somebody getting chucked out because of ID issues or getting taken away by the police…

A: Well, the day is spent sleeping. You catch up on the week’s sleep. You may go to bed at 4am and then suddenly you wake up and see

that it is 6 the following evening! There is no time for anything after. If you’re asleep nobody would wake you up regardless of the time or

ask if you want to eat anything

Q: What type of torture?

A: Well mental torture is always there, physical is something I didn’t expect. I feel if I was earning then I would not have had this happen to

me. He is not a bad person. He was a good person but the poverty has affected him and maybe that is why he tortures me. I don ’t know

how long this torture will last but as I have a child I am in a predicament. It is not possible for me to move.

A: I have no options. I have no options to go anywhere. I have thought about and I feel I only have one option if God helps me. There is no

other option for me in this position.

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A play in one Act

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What can I do? I went from restaurant to restaurant and worked for low wages…I have been working and surviving like this.

I go to the pharmacy and tell them what is wrong and get things like paracetamol. If I didn’t anything more serious then there is nothing I

can do. I think if they did something like look at people’s skills…I am a good builder…I worked for someone today all day for free. He is a

distant cousin…I worked there but I didn’t get any money.

I did ask but as I am in a weak position, I didn’t say too much. I cannot really demand money from him. I am not paying tax. Had he given

me £100 and I was paying tax then I would have given the government some money.

Wherever I went, the employer would ask for papers. How could I provide papers to work?

Well, I thought my date has expired and I cannot do anything as the employer had asked me for papers. We really are in a very weak

position the way things are now means we cannot work, live properly or tell anybody anything. We have no freedom. I had no intentions of

staying here but what can I do? Where can I go?

Employers tend to treat us bad, hassle us, mentality disturb us…and the people who are legally here, they treat us badly. This is how my

time is being spent here, I am mentally suffering. I am 37 years of age…

I love working but in Indian restaurants, people get no respect. People don’t get paid properly if they are illegal.

The treatment was different. They saw themselves as British and us as illegals so although they were nice they still treated us differently

with regards to work and delegation. There would be resentment as they would see us taking their jobs.

: Yes, the legal ones. They would say that because of us, there job opportunities have been reduced. They also tortured mentally about the

breakup of my marriage.

They would criticise me and say things like you wife has left you and stuff like that

Yes, those who are legal or have passports are not treated like this. They also earn good money. The ones that are illegal get badly paid,

harshly treated and get asked to go and work in the employers homes to hoover and look after the kids. Another example is if a restaurant

is open from 12 to 2.20pm, they would then ask the illegal ones to go to shopping centres, do the shopping for the boss and then get

released at 5pm. This is because they are illegal. So after working until 2.30pm, they may be asked to go to Sainsbury’s or other shops

with the boss. They would say you are my worker so you need to do this work.

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A play in one Act

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A play in one Act

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