TUC talks the right language on migrant rights

Talks the right language on migrant rights

New online guides from the TUC will help combat the exploitation of migrant workers, the union body has said. ‘Working in the UK’ is available in 13 languages, including Polish, Bulgarian and Romanian. The TUC says it provides workers with information and guidance on crucial issues such as pay, employment contracts, working hours, sick pay, and health and safety. It also explains how trade unions help workers deal with mistreatment, such as bogus self-employment, and bargain for better pay and conditions. TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said: “Unscrupulous employers have taken advantage of the fact that migrant workers are often unaware of their employment rights. Migrant workers are regularly forced to accept appalling working conditions, low wages and a complete absence of rights. The issue of migrants undercutting existing workers has been exploited by some politicians to win support for anti-immigrant policies that only increase social tension and do nothing to clamp down on bad bosses and improve conditions for all workers.” The TUC leader added: “Only when local and migrant workers are part of a trade union can they bargain with employers to be treated on equal terms, so that everyone receives decent contracts and a fair wage. The Working in the UK guide will enable migrant workers to find out in their own language what their rights are at work and how to join a union.”

• TUC news release.
• TUC Stronger Unions blog.
• The TUC Working in the UK guide is available in Polish, Romanian, Bulgarian, Hungarian, Lithuanian, Latvian, Slovakian, Russian, Portuguese