Working in the UK

Working in the UK

Polish migrant worker routes into employment in the North East and North West construction and food processing sectors

This report presents the findings of a TUC-funded project that sought to identify the main routes into employment for Polish migrant workers in the North East and North West construction and food processing sectors.

It also details the organising strategies that are being employed by trade unions in these sectors and their relationship to the identified routes into employment. Findings are based on information obtained from a range of trade union, government and non-government sources in the North East and North West, as well as key national and international migrant worker contacts.

In all the following were contacted: seven main trade unions, including Solidarnosc in Poland; two informed migrant workers - one a Pole who administers a Polish website for Newcastle upon Tyne Poles, and the other a Portuguese who acts as a middleman for Poles seeking work in the North East; both regional EURES advisers; a representative of the British Polish Chamber of Commerce (BPCC) in Poland; the President of the Federation of Poles in Great Britain (ZPWB); and a large migrant worker employer in the North East of England.

The sectors studied are similar in that they both feature temporary employment and/or seasonal working, poor employment conditions, and a history of migrant worker employment. For example, it was recently estimated that in the construction industry there were up to 100,000 building workers for whom English was their second language. These sectors then offer real opportunities and challenges for trade unions to organise those who most need help. Indeed, many unions have taken up this challenge already and, as this report details, have started to see real successes in the organisation of workers whom many unions would previously have regarded as virtually unorganisable.

The report is divided into five main sections. The first discusses recent Polish migration to the UK. The second identifies the main routes into employment for these workers in the construction and food processing sectors in the North East and North West of England. The third outlines the relationships, in Poland and in the UK, between Polish migrant workers and trade unions. The fourth reports on organising strategies unions are using to recruit a growing number of these workers. The final section makes six recommendations to support the recruitment of Polish migrant workers.

Download a copy of the full report (PDF)