Organising migrant workers

On this historic evening 70 Migrant Workers attended this meeting and constituted the branch, by following the GMB protocol and procedural arrangements necessary to set up the branch. The meeting itself was a fantastic and historic event for all those Migrant Workers who attended. The branch elected their own branch Officers and positions on a very inspiring and emotional evening.

However, the setting up of the branch doesn’t even begin to tell the story about the enormous amount of hard work that many people in the GMB had put in over the last six months, to achieve this very important development. The Southern Region Education Department came into contact with Polish Workers in the Southampton area six months ago, where we had learned that 30,000 Polish people were resident in the Southampton area. This figure constitutes 10% of the population of Southampton. As a result of having several meetings with members of the Polish community we began to provide support by assisting with English language classes, as this was and still is the major barrier that many Migrant Workers face. Currently we are helping something in the region of 100 Polish Workers in Southampton learning English per week and this is just touching the tip of the iceberg as the demand is much higher.

On 6th August this year with the Polish leaders in Southampton we decided to organise a public meeting for the Polish community and 120 Polish Workers turned up to this meeting. The issues and abuses that emerged from this meeting were wide ranging from not getting pay slips to no contracts of employment to racism to maternity pay to sex trafficking. In other words, a multitude of abuses by employers, agencies, gang masters and landlords who are providing inadequate accommodation. There were also real difficulties that Migrant Workers were experiencing within the local communities where they were living. It was apparent that we as a union needed to put together a comprehensive, thoughtful, considered and strategic policy if we were going to embark on serious work with Migrant Workers. It was clear that this strategy could not just focus around recruiting people around workplaces, but that we had to learn to build trust and respect within the Migrant Workers communities around a whole series of other issues that affect them outside of the workplace.

As a result we were able to establish a good relationship with some Polish workers, in particular Paulina Tomasik, who has advised and helped us to communicate and get over the language difficulties with the local Polish community. There is no doubt that the major stumbling block is the language. This barrier is being deliberately encouraged by some employers who are more than happy for this situation to continue. The Government’s recent announcement about payment for and restrictions to access ESOL, compounds the situation and is nothing far short of excluding many Migrant Workers in Britain from being able to function as equal citizens. It is a deplorable position to take, and in my view, is a piece of xenophobic legislation that the whole trade union movement should oppose and take up as a campaigning issue now.

Without Paulina Tomasik we could not have made the developments that we have made up till now. Helping Migrant Workers to learn English is now going to be a hundred times harder as a result of this new Government policy. In October we were able to organise an open day for the Polish Workers around rights at work and between 70 and 100 workers turned up to this event, in which we had Rowley Ashworth Solicitors present who did a fantastic job for us in helping Polish people understand their rights. We had several translators at this event and this was absolutely essential as the work of giving advice through translations is very difficult and takes some thoughtful contributions and is very time consuming.

Another practical initiative that we have been able to organise was to get 10 Polish workers onto a training course to enable them to get the Security Licence to work in the security industry. This was a four way partnership between the LSC, Job Centre Plus, Steele Security (a training company) and the GMB. This has had a dramatic effect because the Polish Workers could see that it was the union that had achieved this and made it happen. All the Polish workers joined the GMB as a result of this initiative. We have also been able to help get four Polish Welders a job in Vosper Thornycroft the Ship Building Company in Portsmouth and again the Polish Workers joined the union.

We have also set up a website for Polish Workers and this will be launched in November and will enable Polish workers to share information and network with each other, as well as providing a useful organising tool. We now have several leaflets translated including the membership form and a leaflet on who the GMB is and what we stand for. These leaflets went down really well with the Polish Workers and has given them a real sense of belonging to the GMB.

We are currently trying to negotiate the setting up of a Learning Centre in the Southampton area with the local Council, as we feel that this would give the GMB and the Migrant Workers a real organising focus in the city, as well as providing a place that Migrant Workers can meet and network. Critically we have also identified several key workplaces that we know and are aware that there are a significant number of Migrant Workers employed there. We are tactically assessing when to move into formal discussions with these employers. However, we are confident that we can produce some positive outcomes in terms of getting the GMB recognised and organised. Last but not least, our current ULF bid is heavily centred around our Migrant Worker strategy and we are requesting that one of our project workers should be a Migrant Worker.

The above is only a sample of some of the things that we have being doing with the Migrant Workers community, but the main reason for this success is that the GMB Education Department, Recruitment and Organising Team, Senior Organisers, Regional Organisers, Activists and ULR’s have worked together around this strategy, bringing to the table their respective qualities and experiences. If we had not done this we could not have achieved the building of the GMB Migrant Workers branch.

We have linked this strategy into each of the Region’s area team meetings and stipulated that this is not a scattergun approach, but one in which we are developing a flexible strategy and template that can and will be rolled out to the rest of the Region when we are ready, with the resources available to implement the strategy and in a considered way. The model is based on self organising and is not a servicing approach, but an organising approach and a dedicated organiser is working closely with the Migrant Workers branch. The key is for Migrant Workers to gain the confidence, skills and knowledge and to get to know the union and then to be able, at an appropriate stage, to organise themselves and to integrate into the mainstream of the GMB when they have the confidence and impetus to do so.

We know that there is much work to be done and we are sober and aware of this, we know that this issue is a controversial political topic in Britain today. We are also aware that there is deep seated racism and xenophobia in British society and this is not helped by Government Ministers’ statements and the bile of the tabloid press. We also know that some employers readily welcome Migrant Workers, but usually on the basis that they can and will exploit them as flexible, vulnerable and cheap labour. Their interest is one of maximising profits and not the welfare of Migrant Workers or Indigenous Workers.

Many workers in Britain think that Migrant Workers are working for less than indigenous workers and of course there is some reality to this situation. However, it is not Migrant Workers who are paying themselves poorer wages and asking for poorer terms and conditions, it is employers who are exploiting their vulnerability and taking advantage of these workers, who in many cases are not aware of what their rights are. The antidote to this is to unionise them not demonise them. This exploitation is exacerbated by the fact that the labour market in Britain continues to be deregulated and sections of the labour force both Indigenous and Migrant are casualised and asked to work excessively long hours, particularly in low paid sectors and occupations in which we the GMB organise within.

If we as a union are to tackle this problem, we need to link British Workers and Migrant Workers together in unity to combat this exploitation. We need an organising strategy that brings all workers together, on the basis of self organising and developing self sufficient embers and activists, who in turn can build and develop workplace organisation. Underpinning this we need a campaign to ensure that employment law in this country is strengthened, developed and enforced, in order to address the exploitation of both the British and the Migrant Workforce. British Workers and Migrant Workers have more in common with each other than they do with the employers who exploit them.

For us as trade unionists the first principle is to recognise that the issues that Migrant Workers face are one of exploitation by employers and not of taking indigenous workers jobs. That Migrant Workers are our workers and their place is in our union and therefore should be represented and defended by the GMB.

The second principle is to recognise that we as trade unionists don’t differentiate between workers, that all workers regardless of where they come from or who they are deserve to be defended represented and treated with respect and dignity both at work and in society at large.

The third principle is that we seek to organise and unite all workers black, white, women, young, migrants, disabled and we unite them around their exploitation as workers and that we as internationalists seek to campaign and organise against those employers who continually carry out exploitation against workers. The experience of how Migrant Workers are being treated runs a coach and horses through the concept of Social Partnership. It is time that we get back to what we stand for and that is to stand up for equality and rights for all workers, that is why we exist as a trade union movement and we should never stop fighting and campaigning for these principles.