United against precarious working conditions? Explaining the role of trade unions in improving migrants’ working conditions in the British and German meat-processing industries
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6297239 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Johanna Kuhlmann (0000-0002-0970-0260, University of Bremen, corresponding author), Colette S Vogeler (0000-0003-0197-4205, Technische Universität Braunschweig) |
| Year | 2021 |
| Volume | 41 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 515-531 |
| Publication date | 2021-09-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Public Policy (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0143-814X • E-ISSN: 1469-7815 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s0143814x20000112 |
| OpenAlex | W3033670278 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 6 |
| References cited | 42 |
The literature has described trade unions’ positions towards both precarious workers and migrant workers as ambivalent. By studying an extreme case, the meat-processing industries in the United Kingdom and in Germany, we show how trade unions were decisive in both countries in bringing exploitative working conditions on the political agenda and in advancing policy change. However, the strategies through which trade unions contributed to this differed remarkably, highlighting different causal pathways in both countries. The British case can clearly be seen as an example of successful union revitalisation by relying on innovative strategies. In contrast, the German story exhibits a strong reliance on a more traditional approach to improving workers’ rights, which was only successful after employers were willing to improve working conditions in the sector as well. Our analysis shows that policy change can happen despite unfavourable conditions and weak actors, especially if these actors make strategic use of situational conditions
Ambivalence · Business · Economics · German · International trade · Labour economics · Meat packing industry · Political science · Politics · Situational ethics · Trade union · Employment and Welfare Studies · Labor Movements and Unions · Social Policy and Reform Studies
Immigrant workers in the meat industry during Covid-19
German capitalism and migrant work in meat. How Covid allowed to break the path-dependent labour exploitation
Still bleeding
Racism and the uneven geography of welfare sanctioning in England
Relational coupling of multiple streams
Negative Integration Is What States Make of It? Tackling Labour Exploitation in the German Meat Sector
Varieties of Unionism
Trade Unions in Western Europe
Order and conflict in contemporary capitalism
Agendas, alternatives, and public policies
Networking, lobbying and bargaining for pensions
Varieties of Capitalism
Crisis? What Crisis? Restructuring the German Welfare System in Times of Unexpected Prosperity
Varieties of Liberalization and the New Politics of Social Solidarity
The Democratic Class Struggle
Farm Animal Welfare Policy in Comparative Perspective
Voluntary Regulation by the Pharmaceutical Industry—Which Role for the Shadow of Hierarchy and Social Pressure
Learning as a Necessary but Not Sufficient Condition for Major Health Policy Change
Reciprocal Effects
Who is in and who is out? A risk-based conceptualization of insiders and outsiders
The Guardian Angel
Layering Action Situations to Integrate Spatial Scales, Resource Linkages, and Change over Time
Cheap Labor
Focusing Events, Mobilization, and Agenda Setting
Why Do Farm Animal Welfare Regulations Vary Between EU Member States? A Comparative Analysis of Societal and Party Political Determinants in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK
Comparative political economy and international migration
Unions, learning, migrant workers and union revitalization in Britain
Migration, immigration controls and the fashioning of precarious workers
The Structural Invisibility of Outsiders
Dualization as Destiny? The Political Economy of the German Minimum Wage Reform
Institutionalizing Dualism
| Unique citing works | 6 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2020 - 2025 (6) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 6 |