Policing markets: the role of the social partners in internal immigration enforcement
Journal of European Social Policy
2020
30
5
November
571-586
immigration ; labour market ; trade union attitude ; social partners
France ; Germany ; Italy ; Sweden ; Netherlands ; United Kingdom
Labour market
https://doi.org/10.1177/0958928720960576
English
Bibliogr.;Charts
"In recent decades, governments have made labour markets sites of immigration enforcement through employer sanctions and other measures. In some countries, unions and employers' associations facilitate implementation of these initiatives, while in others they openly or tacitly resist cooperation. This paper explores these patterns of cooperation and resistance through analysis of six countries. The method used is qualitative comparative analysis, using primary and secondary sources that include newspaper coverage, government reports, union documents and scholarly accounts. The explanation centres on the degree of social partner embeddedness in government decision-making and economic management. In countries with institutionalized, coordinated relationships between the social partners and the state, this coordination extends to implementation of employers' sanctions. In systems with less institutionalized cooperation, employers and unions are less likely to assist the immigration control objectives of state officials. These practices also affect migrants' ability to live within a society, making them not only a form of immigration control, but also important for migrant wellbeing."
Digital
The ETUI is co-funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the ETUI.