Labour mobility, union immobility? Trade unions & migration in the EU

The paper discusses the interactions between trade unions and migrants in the case of intra-EU migration following the EU enlargement eastwards. Against representations of unions as insiders’ exclusionary organisations, it will point at the rich evidence of cooperation within unions and migrants. In the case of the EU, it is argued, unions have particular incentives to organise migrants rather than oppose them. However, the role of unions is much more difficult in the case of movement of services. Introduction In debates on the liberalisation of the movement of services in the EU (the so-called Bolkenstein Directive), on freedom of movement and on legal cases on ‘social dumping’ in the European Court of Justice, migrants from the new EU member states are often portrayed as a threat to established worker rights in Western Europe. This is consistent with some traditional approaches to labour migration, but oversimplifies the dynamic nature of the current migration flows and their interactions with labour regulations and worker organisations. This paper discusses the nature of the movement of worker in the EU and the interaction between Central Eastern European workers and labour market institutions in the West (especially in the United Kingdom). It will argue that the ‘transnational’ nature of current migrations, and the emerging elements of a European civil society prevent the simple opposition between eastern and western European workers, despite political and legal pressures in that direction. The role of trade unions, in particular, differs in most country from the ‘protectionist’ one that it is traditionally associated with them, and is open to the migrants also in allegedly ‘restrictive’ countries such as Germany. Differences between the social and legal nature of labour migration and of movement of services, however, cause differences in union capacities and attitudes. 1 – Trade unions: from exclusive to inclusive actors? Current debates on labour markets are frequently framed within an ‘insider-outsider’ modelling. Typically, insiders would be middle-aged male local workers belonging to the ethnic majority, with no disability, while the most typical outsiders are migrants. To guarantee the perpetuation of their advantageous position, insiders have a number of institutional device – most typically, it is argued, the trade union. As a corollary, within the EU it is often claimed that western European trade unions are potential obstacles to the employment opportunities of migrants from the new member states. However, while it is historically true that trade unions in many cases have supported barriers against migrants, this is less and less the case around the world. Moreover, it will be argued, this is least true in the case of the EU, given the transnational nature of much intra-EU migration and the specific forms of socialisation European trade unions are involved in. This does not automatically mean, however, that trade unions will help migrants and outsiders instead. Trade union action on migration is still limited, and is