Everything about Migrant Labor totally explained
The term
migrant worker has different official meanings and connotations in different parts of the world; the United Nations' definition is very broad, essentially including anyone working outside of their home country. In some countries, notably the U.S., the term has a specific connotation that the work will be low paid. The term can also be used to describe someone who migrates within a country, possibly their own, in order to pursue work such as seasonal work.
United Nations' definition
The "
United Nations Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families" defines
migrant worker as follows:
This Convention has been ratified by
Mexico,
Brazil and the
Philippines (amongst many other nations that supply foreign labour) but it hasn't been ratified by the
United States,
Germany and
Japan (amongst other nations that depend on cheap foreign labour). For an up to date listing of ratifications and signatories visit this
special page
on the website of
December 18, the International Advocacy and Resource Centre on the Human Rights of Migrant Workers.
National perspectives
Asia
China
It is also used currently for workers from China's impoverished west who go to work in the more prosperous east. People like
Wang Binyu, whose case became newsworthy in 2005. According to State statistics, the current number of migrant workers in China is estimated at 150 million, that's to say nearly 11.5% of the population. China’s urban migrants sent home the equivalent of almost 300 billion US$ in 2005.
Europe
The recent
expansions of the European Union have provided opportunities for many people to be able to migrate to other EU countries for work. For both the 2004 and 2007 enlargements existing states were given the rights to impose various transitional arrangements to limit access to their labour markets.
North America
Canada
In Canada companies are beginning to recruit temporary foreign workers under Services Canada's recent expansion of an immigration program for migrant workers.
United States
The term
foreign worker is generally used in the United States to refer to people fitting the international (UN) definition of migrant worker. The term
migrant worker, in the U.S., refers to someone who regularly works away from
home, if they've a home at all. Examples of professions which could be called migrant workers, some of them quite lucrative, include:
Electricians in the construction industry; other
construction workers who travel from one construction job to another, often in different cities;
wildland firefighters in the western United States; temporary/roving
consulting work; and possibly even interstate
truck drivers.
In America's history, starting at the end of the
Civil War,
hobos were the migrant workers who performed much of this agricultural work, using freight
railroads as their means of transportation to new jobs. During the
Great Depression,
Okies who fled the
dust bowl were a significant source of temporary farm labor.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Migrant Labor'.
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