REGINE Regularisations in Europe Final Report - European ...

employment-based regularisations have not received much attention, the focus generally is on
irregular (undeclared and illegal) work and related issues (vulnerability of workers, exploitation,
social dumping), as, for example, in Denmark, Slovenia and Sweden. Here the focus is on both legal
and illegal residents, with the former (including nationals) being generally considered the
quantitatively more important group. 166 In a variety of other MS, trade unions often have no clear
position on either irregular work or illegal migration – even in cases where the extent of irregular
migration is thought to be substantial, as for example, in Austria (where estimates range between
50,000 to 100,000 employed non-nationals) 167 and the Netherlands (where estimates range between
60,000 and 120,000).
Whether or not clearly articulated positions on regularisations exist, trade unions’ policies on
irregular migration generally focus on employer sanctions, better enforcement and increased work-site
inspections. Thus, although unions across Europe maintain that the rights of irregular migrants should
be equally protected, regularisation on employment grounds seems not to be a prominent concern for
trade unions except in a relatively small number of countries.
Nevertheless, several unions have formulated explicit positions on irregular migrants – often focused,
however, on irregularly employed non-nationals, covering both legally and illegally staying third
country nationals. In June 2007 the Swedish trade union TCO adopted a policy concerning irregular
migrant workers based on the principle that “irregular migrants, despite lack of work permits, shall
enjoy the same labour protection as other employees.” 168 The union further called for the
decriminalisation of illegal work and, as a corollary, for an increase in penalties for employing
migrants without work permits. Finally, the union’s new policy also stipulated that unions should
avoid actions that may lead to the deportation of irregular migrant workers. In the UK, unions have
played an important role during discussions leading to the adoption of the Gangmasters (Licensing)
Act 2004, which focused on exploitation of illegal migrants by specific types of temporary work
agencies. In its response to the ICMPD questionnaire, UNISON, a British trade union, stresses that it
is particularly irregular migrants who become subject to exploitation. 169 It also supports regularisation
and is a member of the UK pro-regularisation alliance “Strangers into Citizens”. 170
In Ireland, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions has elaborated its own proposal for a regularisation
scheme. In its policy paper ‘A fair way in’, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions argues that
“[e]xperience in Ireland and abroad shows that unscrupulous employers exploit the situation of
undocumented workers and often intimidate them into accepting less than decent treatment and unsafe
working conditions.” The report further reasons that “it is detrimental and unjust for a society to
create an underclass of individuals without the opportunity to bring their lives out of the shadows and
166 See questionnaire responses to the ICMPD TU Questionnaire, the REGINE country studies on France and
the UK, and on Germany : Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund - Bundesvorstand vom 15.05.07: Stellungnahme zum
Entwurf des Gesetzes zur Umsetzung aufenthalts- und asylrechtlicher Richtlinien der Europäischen Union,
beschlossen vom Bundeskabinett am 28. März 2007, http://www.migrationonline.de/beitrag._aWQ9NTMzNA_.html,
167 Kraler, A., Reichel, D., Hollomey, C. (2008): Clandestino Country Report Austria. Unpublished Project
Report, Clandestino project.
168 TCO, Response, ICMPD TU Questionnaire, 2008.
169 UNISON, Response, ICMPD TU Questionnaire, 2008.
170 See www.strangersintocitizens.org.uk
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