Volume 15, 2006

Issue N. 3: Migrant Labor NGOs and Trade Unions: A Partnership in Progress?

Jeremy Northcote, Peter Hancock and Suzy Casimiro

"Breaking the Isolation Cycle: The Experience of Muslim Refugee Women in Australia," Vol. 15 (2), pp. 177-199, 2006
 

Based on the findings of focus groups and key informant interviews, an ‘isolation cycle’ is proposed to conceptualize the interrelated processes that marginalize first generation migrant Muslim refugee women from meaningful participation in Australian society. We hold that both internal ‘ethnic’ factors and external societal factors are jointly involved in perpetuating a cycle of isolation for Muslim refugee women. Hence, we propose that the tendency of social analysts, politicians and media commentators alike to focus on one group over the other as a means of casting ‘blame’ on difficulties surrounding integration is misguided. We conclude that more attention is required by Australian services and government agencies in breaking the isolation cycle through a more sustained, pro-active strategy directed not only at refugee settlers, but Australian society in general.


 
Michele Ford
"Migrant Labor NGOs and Trade Unions: A Partnership in Progress?," Vol. 15 (3), pp. 299-311, 2006

Over the last two decades, the needs and interests of temporary international labor migrants in Southeast Asia have overwhelmingly been the concern of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) rather than trade unions. However, in recent years unions have increasingly been forced to acknowledge that migrant workers are a potentially important trade union constituency. This introduction provides the theoretical framework for a collection of articles which grew out of a project involving academics, trade unionists and migrant labor NGO activists on the extent of union-NGO cooperation on migrant worker issues. It argues that while unions are now much more engaged with both with temporary migrant workers and the NGOs who advocate on their behalf, unions’ approaches towards transnationalism and citizenship (and the concomitant issue of legality) – along with entrenched inter-sectoral divisions and prejudices – continue to limit their preparedness and ability to engage fully with issues concerning temporary labor migration.
 

Michele Ford

"Migrant Worker Organizing in Indonesia," Vol. 15 (3), pp. 313-334, 2006
 

This article examines attempts by Indonesian migrant labor NGOs, migrant worker organizations and trade unions to promote the labor rights of Indonesian migrant workers employed overseas. In recent years trade unions in Indonesia have increasingly been forced to acknowledge the existence of overseas labor migrants. But NGOs have dominated migrant labor advocacy initiatives, and grassroots migrant labor organizations such as the Indonesian Migrant Workers’ Union (IMWU) have developed independently of existing trade unions. Unions in Indonesia, like unions in other countries of origin, have been only marginally involved in migrant worker issues because of their physical boundedness within the nation-state and their focus on the formal sector. In other words, the fact that unions operate primarily at the national and sub-national scales and the difficulties they have had incorporating workers employed in less structured workplaces, and particularly in the informal sector, limits their capacity to assist or organize citizens employed outside the boundaries of the nation-state. This paper argues that unions must move beyond their traditional structures and spheres of influence in order to address the needs of overseas migrant workers, who represent an increasingly important union constituency in countries such as Indonesia.
 

Mary Lou L. Alcid
"NGO-Labor Union Cooperation in the Promotion of the Rights and Interests of Landbased Overseas Filipino Workers," Vol. 15 (3), pp. 335-357, 2006
 

The promotion and protection of the rights of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in the Philippines is carried out by a broad and dynamic community of NGOs, both church-based and secular, and organizations of OFWs, returnees and OFW families. Linked with the struggle of other marginalized sectors in the country for emancipation from poverty and democracy, these organizations forge solidarity with other social movements through multi-sectoral networks and alliances. The labor movement, which technically should include OFWs, has been a relatively late stakeholder in the advancement of the OFW agenda. This paper discusses the approaches and strategies the migrant sector has evolved since the 1980s, and why major labor centers have not addressed OFW issues in a strategic and sustained way. It highlights social movement unionism for NGO-labor union cooperation in promoting and protecting the rights of OFWs. The partnership of the Alliance of Progressive Labor, a Philippine-based labor center, and the Asian Migrant Centre in Hong Kong suggests promising developments.

Nicola Piper

"Migrant Worker Activism in Singapore and Malaysia: Freedom of Association and the Role of the State," Vol. 15 (3), pp. 259-379, 2006

The political space given to non-governmental organizations to respond to the economic and legal problems experienced by migrant workers is heavily restricted in Malaysia and Singapore. The relative political weakness of their respective civil societies has been the focus of some research, albeit to a lesser extent with specific reference to their labor sectors, raising questions on what this implies for migrant labor activism. By exploring the differences and similarities across the various organizations involved in migrant worker issues in-country as well as across countries, this paper investigates the role of state authoritarianism in shaping the landscape of migrant labor activism in Malaysia and Singapore. It assesses the pressure non-union civil society organizations can bring to bear on both the state–sponsored and traditional labor movement organizations which have been co-opted by the state to a greater or lesser extent in both Malaysia and Singapore. It is argued that it is in fact migrant labor and the growing political activism, especially transnational activism, which contributes or may contribute to the reinvigoration of labor activism in general by highlighting the many-folded problems of foreign workers.

DISCUSSION NOTES

Kevin Gray
"Migrant Labor and Civil Society Relations in South Korea," Vol. 15 (3), pp. 381-389, 2006

Patrick A. Taran and Luc Demaret

"Action Imperatives for Trade Unions and Civil Society," Vol. 15 (3), pp. 391-403, 2006

Raghwan

"Migrant Workers: An Emerging Concern of Trade Unions in Asia," Vol. 15 (3), pp. 405-413, 2006

Lorena Macabuag and Jose Maria Dimaandal
"Working Together for Migrants' Empowerment," Vol. 15 (3), pp. 415-423, 2006

Joanne C. Barriga and Mirko Herberg
"Engaging with Migration Issues: The Work of FES in the Philippines and Southeast Asia," Vol. 15 (3), pp. 425-429, 2006

 

CONFERENCE REPORT

"Perspectives from the South: Conclusions from the 2006 Bellagio Conference on Migration and Development," Vol. 15 (3), pp. 431-435, 2006


BOOK REVIEW
 

Graziano Battistella
437 Migration and Its Enemies: Global Capital, Migrant Labour and the Nation-State, By Robin Cohen, Vol. 15 (3), pp. 437-439, 2006