News Release

Date: 11 July 2003

Embargo: 00.01hrs Monday 14 July 2003

Attention: Newsdesks

Migrant workers - overworked, underpaid and over here

A lack of legal protection for the thousands of migrant workers who arrive in Wales each year is giving the green light to unscrupulous gangmasters, agencies and employers to exploit foreign workers on a massive scale, says the Wales TUC in a TUC report published today (Monday).

The report ‘Overworked, underpaid, and over here’ expresses concern that whilst overseas workers are toiling for long hours, often for very little pay, and housed in appalling conditions, in almost every case, the employers taking advantage of their vulnerability and poor command of English escape punishment. It calls on the UK government to help improve the conditions of migrant workers by signing the UN Convention on the Rights of Migrant Workers and their Families.

‘Overworked, underpaid, and over here’ includes official figures which show that the working population born outside the UK has increased from 7% of those at work in 1995 (1.8 million workers) to 9% in 2002 (2.6 million workers). The report says this is clearly an underestimate as it will not include the many people who work here illegally. Migrant workers are employed in almost every corner of the UK, with concentrations in Wales, London and the South East, East Anglia and Scotland. They work in health care, education, cleaning, food manufacture and agriculture, hospitality, IT and construction.

Foreign students (who can work for up to 20 hours a week during term time) are the largest number of migrant workers seeking employment (339,000 entered in 2001), while some 140,000 people came to the UK on work permits. Arrivals from the EU numbered 52,000, working holidaymakers (39,000), and the 2003 quotas for the Seasonal Agricultural Workers and the Sector Based Schemes are 25,000 and 20,000.

The TUC report highlights some of the difficulties faced by migrant workers - for example whilst it might be an offence for an employer not to provide paid holidays to a worker here on a work permit, to make a complaint the worker must go to a tribunal. If they lose their job as a result of raising the issue, they will have lost their right to remain in the UK, and will be unable to pursue their case. Similarly, employers should not be paying workers less than is stated on the work permit application, but the only power of enforcement is for the work permit to be revoked, at which point the worker loses their right to stay in the UK.

And whilst migrant workers are often exploited because of their ignorance of the law and their employment rights, says the TUC, the situation is even worse for those working without legal permission to do so. It’s likely, says the TUC, that these workers have no rights at all, with tribunals declining to hear complaints from workers without legal contracts.

According to the TUC report, the position of migrant workers is encouraging exploitative bosses not to pay people for work already done, or to pay them at rates well below the minimum wage. For example, In Wales, an agency who interviewed workers in Portugal told them to expect £1200 a month for a 40-hour week, working in a meat processing factory. In fact they earned just £3.60 an hour after deductions for transport and other charges.

‘Overworked, underpaid, and over here’ also contain figures which show that union membership amongst migrant workers has dropped much more rapidly than the figures for UK-born workers, suggesting that less than one in four migrant workers in Britain now has the protection of a union.

Wales TUC General Secretary David Jenkins said: 'Popular perceptions that Wales is home to hundreds of migrant workers, who plan to stay long term, and take the jobs of Welsh workers are simply wrong. The reality is that most migrant workers only stay for short periods, and their precarious legal status means many end up working incredibly long hours for not much pay, in jobs that Welsh workers wouldn’t want to do. The challenge for unions is to find ways of recruiting migrant workers, offering them support and guidance so they become less exploitable and more aware of their rights.

'If every illegal worker was removed from Wales, parts of the economy would collapse overnight. People arrive attracted by the money they believe they can earn, but their lack of legal status makes them vulnerable to criminal gangmasters and unscrupulous employers. So long as these workers continue to be deported but nothing happens to the people employing them, this unfortunate situation will continue. Everyone working in Wales deserves basic rights at work, and there must be no hiding place for bosses openly breaking the law.'

‘Overworked, underpaid, and over here’ includes a number of case studies which illustrate the extent of the problem:

· Paulo was attracted to come to work in Wales by the prospect of good earnings - the agency who interviewed him in Portugal told him to expect £1200 a month for a 40-hour week, working in a meat processing factory. In fact he earned just £3.60 an hour after deductions for transport and other charges. These were identified as costs associated with his employment in the contract he signed, but it was never explained what these costs were. He also found that the agency organising his air tickets to the UK and back were charging him £300 each way. The agency also asked workers to sign away any potential tax rebates to the company. Paulo found the employer supervision very harsh, and says that he had not expected to be treated worse in a wealthy country like Britain than he would have been at home. An ex-shop steward, Paulo has now found a permanent job here, has joined the TGWU, and is actively recruiting his former colleagues to the union.

Notes to Editors:

The TUC/JCWI conference ‘Migrant workers rights - could we do more in Britain?’ takes place at Congress House on Monday 14 July from 4pm to 7.15pm. Speakers include Frances O’Grady, TUC Deputy General Secretary, Patrick Taran, Senior Migration Correspondent, International Labour Organisation, Felicity Lawrence, Consumer Affairs Correspondent, The Guardian, and Professor Bill Jordan, Exeter University. If you would like to attend, contact the TUC media office.

You can access the full report ‘Overworked, underpaid and over here’ at

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Contacts: Media enquiries : Darron Dupre on 029 2034 7014

For other examples: Howard Wright - T&GWU Industrial Officer (Newtown) on 07967 673982 and Tom Jones - T&GWU Industrial Officer (Caernarfon) - 07970 785460 (Welsh and English).

Press release (1,200 words) issued 14 Jul 2003