Publications

Temporary labour migration: Two studies on workers’ perspectives and actions

06 August 2021

This report gathering two studies on workers organizations’ experience with temporary labour migration is part of a larger ILO project to gather knowledge on temporary labour migration. The views on temporary labour migration vary greatly, including among ILO constituents. In light of the various concerns that the complex dynamics of temporary labour migration raise, it is crucial for the Office to capture constituents’ perspectives to enrich the debate. This document is an input from the Workers’ side to this process.

Trade union action to promote fair recruitment for migrant workers

01 April 2020

This brief highlights trade union action to promote and protect fair recruitment for migrant workers through actions including policy advocacy, service provision and outreach.

Trade unions and migrant workers: New contexts and challenges in Europe

20 December 2017

This timely book analyses the relationship between trade unions, immigration and migrant workers across eleven European countries in the period between the 1990s and 2015.

The cost of migration: What low-skilled migrant workers from Pakistan pay to work in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates

23 August 2016

This report presents the findings of a survey on migration expenses that Pakistani workers paid to secure jobs in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The focus is on low-skilled migrants, who are the most vulnerable because of their low educational qualifications and limited asset base.

Winning Fair Labour Standards for Domestic Workers: Lessons Learned from the Campaign for a Domestic Worker Bill of Rights in New York State

15 June 2010

This paper attempts to identify the core reasons for the success of the Domestic Workers United (DWU) Domestic Worker Bill of Rights Campaign while explaining how the strategies adopted overcame particular challenges.

Migrant workers

01 April 2002

Labour Education 2002/4 No. 129: Today immigration, once a favourite issue covered by labour ministries, falls under the competence of ministries of the interior or of justice. This short-sighted political approach, combined with the closure of borders, has achieved precisely the opposite of what it set out to do. And should we really be surprised? The nations in the West have as many holes in their fortress walls as Swiss cheese. Migrant workers are today at the mercy of mafia like groups specializing in human traffi cking, and the security forces appear to be conceding that they are powerless to stop them.

ILO