Migrant workers and the north of Ireland: between neo-liberalism and sectarianism

Abstract

In 1998, the north of Ireland emerged from a protracted civil insurgency sustained by a socio-

Northern Ireland and the limits of the race relations framework

“…A number of recruitment agencies and employers have utilised various practices that enabled them to extract a high rate of surplus labour from migrant workers. These have included: paying migrant workers at rates below the minimum wage; deducting rent directly from wages; tying employment to substandard and overcrowded accommodation; charging rents at above the local market rate; deducting wages that EU migrant workers were told were to pay for 'work permits' when, in fact, permits were not legally required; requiring workers to purchase their own equipment for work; long working hours; lack of holiday or sick pay, and being coerced to work on demand (Allamby et al, 2011;Garvey & Stewart, 2015;Potter & Hamilton, 2014;Stewart, Garvey, & McKearney, 2013). Migrant workers are easier for employers to manipulate for a variety of reasons.…”

“…Migrant workers are often willing to work for low wages and under poor working conditions, because they can earn more than they would in their country of origin. Employers also successfully use the threat of being made unemployed, which for many migrant workers would mean having to return to their country of origin (Allamby et al, 2011;Garvey & Stewart, 2015;Potter & Hamilton, 2014). The intention behind these employment practices is to extract additional surplus labour, over and above what can be achieved under 'normal' working conditions.…”

Normality unpacked: migration, ethnicity and Local Structure of Feeling among Polish migrant workers in Northern Ireland with a comparative perspective on Scotland

“…More specifically, the GFA was built on an intercommunity consensus between the two sides of the sectarian conflict and the political parties representing them that was facilitated by the governments of the UK and the Republic of Ireland. Thus, rather than challenging and trying to get rid of sectarianism, the GFA institutionalised it (Murtagh and Shirlow 2012;Kelly 2012;Garvey and Stewart 2015). For example, funding of community activities, cultural agencies, and education is organised along sectarian divisions and is 'tied to each bloc publicly articulating that it is delivering its constituents through the redistribution of state funds that upholds respective electorate's needs and cultural demands' (Murtagh and Shirlow 2012, 50).…”

“…According to Kelly (2012, 3), neoliberalism was promoted by 'the architects of the peace process in Washington and London' and embraced by all sides of the northern establishment. It results in cuts in public resources and deteriorating standards of employment (Garvey and Stewart 2015). As resources (i.e.…”

The perforated borders of labour migration and the formal state

“…There, a remarkable persistence and deepening of 'postconflict' sectarian division has been demonstrated (Shirlow and Murtagh, 2006). Yet, with notable exceptions (Anderson and Shuttleworth, 1998;McVeigh and Rolston, 2007;Garvey and Stewart, 2015), previous studies of migration and work also have tended to separate out worker experiences from broader societal relations and structures (e.g. Bell et al, 2004;Jarman, 2004) and underplay the ways in which social context and location are linked to labour market insecurity in shaping precarious employment and living experience (see Vosko, 2006).…”