- Conference
- 2006 National Black Members' Conference
- Date
- 14 September 2005
- Decision
- Carried
Conference welcomes the government’s recognition that migrant workers are an essential part of the UK economy and that Britain must continue to provide a safe haven for people fleeing persecution and violence.
Conference does, however, note that the Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Bill, currently going through Parliament, is the sixth piece of such legislation in twelve years, each eroding asylum and immigration rights with increasingly draconian measures. Despite repeated assertions about the importance of “integration”, these measures, and others such as the move to end indefinite leave to remain for refugees, seem designed to make asylum seekers feel increasingly unwelcome and to make their living conditions in the UK intolerable once asylum has been refused.
Furthermore, Conference notes recent government plans, contained within the Five-Year Strategy and the Making Migration Work for Britain consultation that would lead to some migrant workers, at the lowest-skilled end of the employment spectrum, only being paid the full rate for their work once they return home. This in addition to making employers responsible for enforcing this system of bonds, and effectively therefore an additional branch of the immigration system.
It is against such a backdrop that conference believes trade unions have a major role to play in standing up for the rights of migrant workers on the one hand, but also in performing an organising role. Many migrant workers come to the UK with little or no knowledge of UK employment law and unscrupulous employers will always seek to prey on such people. Unions can give these workers protection and advice to ease the process of adapting to living in a new country.
Conference therefore calls upon the National Black Members’ Committee to work with the NEC and UNISON Labour Link to:
1.Continue opposing legislation that seeks to undermine further the rights of
asylum seekers in the UK;
2.Argue that the debate around migration be shifted to a focus on increasing migrant workers’ rights rather than restricting their ability to work in the UK; and
3.Build upon the encouraging work already undertaken in some UNISON
regions to engage with the migrant population and recruit them into the union.