Le istituzioni locali e il mondo associativo per la costruzione di una rete in materia di cooperazione, cultura di pace, integrazione multietnica, promozione dei diritti umani e della solidarietà fra i popoli.
Immigrants work in Europe -useful (for us)- but at what price (for them)?
Eurofond, the European Agency for the Security and Health Care on Work, has analysed in a Report the conditions of work for immigrants in Europe, and apparently the situation is quite worrying.
Report - Whereas the work of foreigners is rising in the EU labour market, their jobs are the most devalued and dangerous and the unemployment rate is very high.The expansion of the services sector and the rising of high qualified workers have allowed immigrants to enter easily in the EU labour market accepting devalued or dangerous works when European people didn´t want to do them.
If on the one hand the hiring of strangers guaranties an economic development (such as in Ireland and in Spain), on the other hand we can’t ignore the condition of immigrants employed in devalued jobs especially when they are graduated.
The most underprivileged- The most underprivileged foreign workers are women. In fact women bear a triple discrimination: for sex, birth, and class. They are more often employed in health care or social sector and so they have less opportunity to make a career move and choices.
Also Muslim people have more difficulties to find job due to the preconceptions of nowadays.
Trade-unions- The Report has emphasized that often, even if immigrants have the worst job status, they are in general less represented in trade-unions, for example in Denmark, Hungary, Poland and United Kingdom where foreigners are especially employed in the private sector. On the contrary, in Italy and Cyprus they are employed in the construction and industry sector where they are highly subscribing in trade-unions.
Moreover in Ireland, Luxemburg and Spain the trade-unions have promoted public campaign to encourage the subscription to the trade-unions and to communicate immigrants their own rights.
Better condition of work?- Most European countries are conscious of the importance of foreign workers to their economic development. Despite of this awareness, there is not so much interest towards the hard condition of immigrants employees.
Fortunately, in some countries such as Norway, Sweden and United Kingdom a greater number of foreigners is employed in education and research sectors. Even if in those countries immigrants income remains still lower, foreigners who have an higher level of education, got more opportunities to make career move and get better conditions in work.
