Migration, Ethnicity and Solidarity: ‘Multinational Workers’ in the Former Soviet Union

Abstract

We investigate migrant construction workers' experiences in the Former Soviet Union, examining their attitudes to other ethno-national groups, unions and collective action. Industrial relations and migration studies view migrant workers hypermobility and diversity, under conditions of low union coverage and rising nationalism, as potentially obstructing consciousness raising and mobilizing. Workers participating in our study faced unions indifference, ethno-national segregation and discrimination. Managerial abuses, informality and contestation from below led to spontaneous mobilisation. Lack of institutional channels to solve these disputes drove them into further mobility. However, complex mobility trajectories and collective action translated into increased awareness of collective interests and rejection of nationalist ideologies. The outcome is a 'multinational worker' potentially resistant to nation-state politics and capital's logics but also aware of the values and usefulness of collective solidarities. Thus, previous arguments uniquely associating exit with individualistic attitudes, and post-socialist legacies with workers' quiescence present only partial pictures.

Pay and employee intrapreneurialism in Russia, 1994–2015: A longitudinal study

“…Herzberg famously designated pay—our central concern—a hygiene factor, that is, not one likely per se to evoke a positive employee response. In the Russian context, this contradicts the consensus among experts that employees regard discretionary inputs as requiring monetary recompense (Clarke, 2002; Krzywdzinski, 2018; Morrison, 2007; Morrison et al, 2020).…”

“…In sum, precarization is a widespread and growing phenomenon whose impact on intrapreneurship may vary by industry. Research among migrant construction workers in Russia (Morrison et al, 2020) finds resistance akin to the cultural rejection of managerial control in Russian manufacturing (Morris & Hinz, 2017). The service sector's ‘gendered’ legacies of low wages, higher productivity and tighter discipline (Morrison, 2007) appear less conducive to cultures of resistance.…”

“…Migrant labour has brought ‘informalization via ethnic segmentation and migrant workers' exploitation’ (Likic‐Brboric et al, 2013, p. 679). Migrants to Russia originate from both the FSU and provincial Russia (Morrison et al, 2020; Mukomel, 2014, pp. 82–98; Vorobyova & Topilin, 2014).…”

Romania’s societal transformation and labour struggles abroad – how missing income opportunities and the fear of dismissal inform practices of labour resistance

“…Workers share such positions among themselves, thus offering a way out of the worst jobs. If a new, better and more secure position comes up, workers may take advantage of their mobility (Morrison et al 2014(Morrison et al , 2020 2) to take it. Furthermore, workers warn each other against certain employers.…”

Perspectives of Teaching in English in Gagauzia in Moldova

“…Therefore, the use of L1 to aid the process of second language acquisition is significant. Besides, if educators avoid the use of the first language during instructions, they will encounter a highly time-consuming usage of input modification such as repletion, syntax simplification, and synonyms, among others (Morrison, Sacchetto & Croucher, 2019). The use of language input modification also makes the instruction process unrealistic and annoying.…”