- Conference
- 2011 National Black Members' Conference
- Date
- 6 September 2010
- Decision
- Carried
Conference notes that:
Migrant workers are constantly undervalued, deskilled, overworked, and underpaid within the labour workforce. Migrant workers continue to work in substandard conditions taking employment well below their knowledge and abilities simply to survive.
Migrant workers currently comprise only 13% of the British workforce but make a critical contribution to the UK economy.
Migrant workers continue to experience difficulties in accessing UK workforce and exercising their employment rights at work. They are consistently undervalued and continue to face employment issues.
The imposition of caps on non-EU migrant workers and extension of workplace document checks and immigration raids has heightened tensions around migrants’ rights to work in the UK.
The Con-Dem Coalition Government have clearly indicated their intention to sharply reduce the numbers of migrant workers to 24,100; this would result to a 5% fall from last year. A permanent cap will be announced next year.
Using government figures, the Financial Times analysed the effect of this cap and found that it would translate to additional costs to families in the UK of £300 a year in higher taxes or lower public service provision. It also found that the level of cutbacks now being promised by the Government, to 60,000 or less new arrivals, could reduce projected growth by as much as 1%.
Conference believes that:
The cap on migration will adversely affect UK competitiveness in the globalised economy. It will also lead to negative effect on both the economy and the generation of tax income to pay for public services; resulting in the public services not being able to operate effectively and efficiently.
The consequences of managed migration policies have been to divide migrants into two categories. ‘Good migrants’ who are useful and make money for Britain economy and ‘bad migrants’ who are not seen as wealth creators and regarded as illegal.
Conference calls on the National Black Members Committee (NBMC) to work with the National Executive Council:
1.To lobby and campaign against the cap, raising awareness of the consequence for public service provision.
2.To continue to work with the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants, (JCWI) in providing a free advice line for migrant worker members.
3.To work with organisations such as Migrant Rights Network and JCWI in raising awareness of the vulnerable situation of migrant workers and immigrants to the UK.
4.To raise awareness of the negotiators guide on document checks and workplace raids produced by UNISON in conjunction with the TUC, Migrant Rights Network and other trade unions.
5.To continue to support the TUC campaign ‘Let them work’ alongside other trade unions.