Industrial relations and migrant integration in European cities: A comparative perspective

Abstract

Migrant inclusion in a society is a process that ultimately succeeds or fails at the local level and cities have increasingly taken a proactive stance in delivering their own policies for integration. The literature on the topic has focused particularly on the cooperation between local political institutions and civil society organizations, underestimating the key role played by social partners. This paper demonstrates the participation of social partners in the local governance of migrant integration in three European cities: Barcelona, Lyon and Gothenburg. Drawing on process tracing analysis and qualitative interviews, the article illustrates the different responses of local unions and employers’ organizations to immigration and the variety of approaches to supporting migrant integration into employment and society. The article argues that these approaches, which take place within different institutional and structural contexts, shape different patterns of migrant inclusion and allow us to explain the new and traditional ways in which social partners operate as social and political actors.

Russian regional labour law on social partnership and labour protection

“…The composition and size of the workforce in Russia according to official statistical indicators over the past four years has been quite stable, despite the adverse factors associated with the pandemic and economic risks (fig. 1), especially in comparison with the situation in the European community [3]. Most of the able-bodied citizens are employed, the number of the unemployed was increasing in 2020, but then the figure was decreasing.…”

The Local-National Gap in Intergroup Attitudes and Far-Right Underperformance in Local Elections

“…Immigrants live in local communities. Voters and residents encounter immigrants where they live, and this is where local authorities and local organizations accommodate and integrate newcomers (Augustin and Jørgensen, 2019;Søholt and Aasland, 2019;Campomori and Ambrosini, 2020;Scalise and Burroni, 2020). We provided new empirical insights into an aspect of intergroup attitudes that can contribute to solving this puzzle.…”

“…Immigration politics is central both on the national political stage and in local political debates (Scalise and Burroni, 2020). For example, the admission and distribution of asylum seekers is one issue which puts immigration on the agenda in local politics (Blommaert et al, 2003;Zorlu 2016;Bygnes 2020).…”

Migrants and Refugees in Europe

“…Another which highlights their activity in the labour market and depicts them as potential competitors with the 'native' workforce (Berg, 2015;Ferrera and Pellegata, 2018). Within such polarised debates, social partners as well as 'hybrid' corporate actors such as social cooperatives and social enterprises have articulated a range of positions which sometimes appear to be diverging (Scalise and Burroni, 2020). For example, trade unions have been faced by the dilemma of including or excluding newcomers from their activities and membership when inclusion could be considered a 'betrayal' of native and traditional workforces exposed to the risk of 'social dumping' and further deregulation, or conversely, whether or not migrants could be considered as an untapped reservoir of labour solidarity whose recruitment may mitigate against well-established long-term declines in trade union density across the European (particularly young and precarious) workforce (Penninx and Roosblad, 2000;Mackenzie and Forde, 2009;Gorodzeisky and Richards, 2013;Gumbrell-McCormick and Hyman, 2013).…”