Trade unions and migrant workers in Western Europe

According to the Migrants’ Integration Policy Index (MIPEX) (Niessen et al., 2007), in all the countries considered here, with the exception of Sweden, migrants from outside the EU are not eligible for equal access to employment as EU nationals. In several countries (for example, Germany and the Netherlands), migrants face limitations on their right to change jobs. Thus they are in particular need of union representation and protection while forming a potentially critical and expanding constituency for union movements eager for new recruits. We should therefore expect unionization rates amongst migrant workers to be at least the same as for native workers.
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