25/01/2021
Wage theft: the missing middle in exploitation of migrant workers | openDemocracy
Part of the challenge in reinforcing labour protection for migrants is that deeply
entrenched discriminatory attitudes cannot easily be legislated away. Authorities
may react di erently to cases of wage theft when they involve migrants, as it is
rationalised that they are still receiving better wages than they would in their
countries of origin. In particular, o cials are often less sympathetic towards
undocumented migrant workers who are underpaid as they are viewed as having
brought the problem upon themselves.
The need for a more pragmatic response
Problems with the lack of clarity on what actually constitutes human tra cking
have been a major obstacle to identi cation since the UN Tra cking Protocol was
rst adopted 20 years ago. In the real world, there is no clear divide between free
and unfree labour, and trying to make a binary separation often leads practitioners
down the rabbit hole.
Another obstacle to operationalising the concepts of human tra cking and
modern slavery is that they are too abstract for survivors to self-identify. The
conceptual intricacies involved require that cases be identi ed by a third party,
signi cantly limiting the agency of migrants themselves to denounce abuses. This
has also contributed to a lopsided focus on exploitation in the sex industry due to
the moral panics created by some of the actors involved.
Key to addressing a larger share of abuses is that migrants clearly understand
when they have experienced a violation of their rights and are able to come
forward to lodge a complaint. In that regard, wage-related abuses can be
considered a much more straightforward o ense than human tra cking or
modern slavery. In many cases, basic numeracy would be su cient for a migrant
worker to understand whether they received the wages they were promised.
Focussing on wage the
for migrant workers
would expand social justice
Addressing the exploitation of migrant workers e ectively requires a clearer focus
on the reasons why these abuses occur. The vast majority of cases are not rooted
https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/beyond-trafficking-and-slavery/wage-theft-missing-middle-exploitation-migrant-workers/?utm_source=tw
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