Immigrants at sea in a precarious labour market (1)
Migrants are always the hardest hit by exploitative working conditions. Lack of interest by Government and some trade unions led to the formation of two independent bilingual trade unions by Latin American workers in London. The Prisma discussed the legal and political issues with the UVW union.
In London over 100 nationalities are among people including native British workers in precarious conditions, on zero-hour contracts, doing more than one job each day with long unpaid travel times to and between them. Women with children are especially hard-hit, needing to pay for childcare. The main driver for migrants from Africa and Asia to come to Europe is the availability of work, even at exploitative rates, and in illegal conditions.
Politicians try to blame migrants for social problems but turn a blind eye to the exploitative conditions permitted by current labour laws. Government austerity policies made workers' pay for the 2008 crisis generated by the global financial elite. In some cases, established trade unions showed little interest in offering the protection and solidarity that would have come with union membership.
In this situation two small independent unions were formed: United Voices of the World (UVW) in 2014, and International Workers of Great Britain (IWGB) in 2012. Both unions are grass roots organizations founded by Latin American workers in London, both are bilingual in English and Spanish, and offer assistance that includes education and training as well as organizing and campaigning. A third union, Workers of England United (WEU) has formed more recently.
I interviewed Petros Elia, UVW General Secretary, for The Prisma following our recent discussions with film directors on the issues faced by workers in Belgium and Spain.
This interview was first published in The Prisma Multicultural Newspaper in January 2024, where it can be read in full with links and images: https://theprisma.co.uk/2024/01/22/immigrants-at-sea-in-a-precarious-labour-market-1/