Trade unions support refugee employment rights on UN International Migrants Day

18 December 2015

On International Migrants Day (Friday 18 December), the TUC is joining with European trade unions to pledge support for refugees who need access to work.

Along with other members of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), the TUC is pledging to assist the inclusion of asylum seekers in society, and particularly in the workplace, with access to work and equal employment rights.

TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said:

“The trade union movement has a proud history of solidarity and support for people whose freedom and safety is in danger. So together with trade unionists across Europe we are pledging support for those who arrive in the EU to escape humanitarian disasters and war.

“Our welcome for refugees must extend to the workplace. Refugees and asylum seekers must be given the right to work, and to make a contribution to the country that gives them safe haven.

“We call on the government to show solidarity by taking in an adequate number of refugees from camps in the Middle East and arriving in the EU.  We are all human, with the same needs and fears, and the same fundamental human rights to dignity and respect. So we should treat refugees as we’d hope to be treated ourselves if we ever had to take our family on a treacherous journey to escape grave dangers.”

ETUC General Secretary Luca Visentini said:

“Hundreds of thousands of desperate people are risking their lives to get to Europe. This humanitarian crisis calls for a humanitarian response.

“Europe cannot push people back to the sea, to war zones, or to camps with no prospect of work or education. The integration of refugees is the only solution – with inclusion in society, and in work wherever possible.

“Trade unions are in the frontline of the inclusion and integration of refugees into the workplace and representing their rights. And we are committed to working for the fairest possible deal for local workers and refugees.

“Solidarity is a perhaps over-used trade union motto, but in the case of the arrival of hundreds of thousands of refugees into Europe, solidarity is the best word to describe what we need to maintain human decency and avoid serious conflict.”

NOTES TO EDITORS:

- The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC), to which the TUC is affiliated, is organising a conference in Zagreb, Croatia, on International Migrants Day to highlight and discuss a practical and humanitarian response to the refugee crisis.

- The TUC and its ETUC partners will:

• Pledge to assist the inclusion and integration of refugees into society, particularly into the workplace;
• Call for increased investment in public services in order to meet the needs of both refugees and local communities;
• Encourage the European Commission in its efforts to develop effective EU-wide policies for asylum and warn that credible policies are also needed for legal migration and inclusion;
• Urge all EU Member States to show solidarity and responsibility in welcoming and resettling refugees and to open a debate on revision of the Dublin Regulations (which states that asylum seekers must have their claim processed in the first EU state they arrive in);
• Note the value of collective bargaining in reaching agreements between employers and workers for the integration of refugees into work, and ensuring local workers that their wages and conditions will not be undermined.     

-The TUC has produced the Working in the UK guide on essential employment rights for migrant workers in 17 different languages which can be found at www.tuc.org.uk/workingintheuk

- All TUC press releases can be found at www.tuc.org.uk
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