Memorandum by the Trades Union Congress
Trade unions play a key role in building cohesion
and countering prejudice against migrant workers, often from the
Far Right, both in the community and in the workplace. Over recent
years, trade unions have also provided support for workers with
English language needs, particularly in the workplace. Based on
this experience, we support the Committee's premise that English
language skills are vital for community cohesion but would stress
the vital need to include the workplace as a forum for building
community cohesion. For many migrants, the workplace will be a
place where they meet and interact closely with settled workers.
They need language skills to be able to build workplace relationships,
which can then be taken out into the wider community.
In early 2007, the TUC established its Commission
on Vulnerable Employment (CoVE), which has identified low-paid
migrant workers as a particular group vulnerable both to community
exclusion and workplace exploitation. Evidence gathered through
regional fieldtrips of the TUC's Commission on Vulnerable Employment
is demonstrating that poor English language skills are significantly
contributing to exploitation at work. Poor language skills means
many migrant workers are unaware of their employment rights.
The TUC and unions have been very concerned
about changes to public funding of English for speakers of other
languages (ESOL) and in particular the impact on low paid migrant
workers. The implications of the changes include that for many
people, the cost of paying for ESOL courses has shifted from the
public purse to individuals, unless employers make a contribution.
Most migrant workers are low paid, so paying for ESOL is unaffordable.
Under the current policy, access to free ESOL is triggered by
evidence of income related tax credits. However evidence from
the Home Office shows that only 3% of workers from European Union
Accession States receive tax credits. This is despite the fact
that around 8 in 10 earn between £4.50 and £5.99 an
hour. Therefore many people that need ESOL support are at risk
of exploitation at work and isolation in the community.
While the TUC believes that employers should
contribute towards ESOL costs for migrant workers, the reality
is that in the absence of adequate levers this is unlikely to
occur in most workplaces. This is backed by emerging results from
a unionlearn online survey of union representatives that demonstrates
employers are largely not willing to pay. Employers are benefiting
from employing migrant workers, and the TUC believes it is important
to build in mechanisms to ensure that that they meet their responsibilities.
Such mechanisms could include piloting new approaches to securing
a direct financial contribution from employers. For example, additional
fees could be raised from those agencies registered under the
Gangmasters Licensing Authority that could be dedicated to meeting
workers' skills needs.
The TUC believes that ESOL should be free to
low paid workers. We are concerned that a failure to ensure low-paid
migrant workers have proper access to ESOL will hamper community
integration and exacerbate exploitation. I hope that the Committee
will take these issues into account in their deliberations, and
would be happy to elaborate upon any of the points raised.
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