13. Migrant workers taking action
Real change happens when migrant workers are able to challenge unfair treatment themselves, with the union’ s backing and support. Their strength and determination, drawn from the experience of leaving families behind and travelling long distances to build new lives, become a powerful force when they are given the space to lead.
Two important ways the union can support and empower migrant members to address their own problems are through organising and by encouraging members to step forward as Active Members. This chapter offers two examples of migrant workers taking action through UNISON and shows how workers, when supported and encouraged, can turn their own experiences into collective strength, building the confidence of colleagues and holding employers to account.
How migrant care workers in Basildon stood up and won
In a care home in Basildon, Essex, migrant workers faced shocking treatment from management. Most of the Indian workers were on sponsored visas, while many of their Nigerian colleagues were connected to the home manager, who had brought in several relatives. Indian staff were disciplined unfairly, forced to beg for their jobs, made to work the most difficult shifts, and even told when they could and could not take holidays. Workers who raised concerns about residents’ care were investigated and blamed, while others were dismissed on the spot, sometimes by phone, with little or no process. Meanwhile, Nigerian staff close to the manager enjoyed privileges such as free meals, freedom to book leave, and protection from discipline. As the organiser later reflected,“ conditions in that home were brutal, and discrimination was being used to keep workers fearful and divided.”
First steps
One of the workers, Gopal( name changed), had previously tried to reach out to UNISON. When a UNISON area organiser visited the home for a disciplinary case, she was immediately confronted by the manager, who shouted at her for speaking to staff and threatened the worker who had sought help. The organiser recalled thinking to herself:“ if she speaks to me like that in front of the workers, how must she speak to them when no one is there to witness it?”
That incident confirmed that the workforce needed to organise. However, many staff members were fearful at first. The organiser, herself from a migrant family, reminded them:“ You’ ve travelled thousands of miles to come to a country that you don’ t know and to start a new life here. That’ s a brave act in itself. You are not scared people. You’ ve already done something incredibly brave that a lot of people wouldn’ t do.”
Gopal responded with the words that brought the group together:“ We have no choice. They’ re already picking us off. We can fight and save ourselves, or let them do it.”
72 LRD • Supporting migrant workers