Policy Hub
On 9 November 2004, the TUC published a report (Propping up rural and small town Britain: migrant workers from the new Europe). The report examines the situation of workers from central and Eastern Europe in the six months since ten new countries joined the EU on 1 May. It finds that the pattern of migration into the UK is changing, with workers more likely to be found in the rural areas and small towns of Britain, as opposed to earlier waves of migrant workers who tended to settle in the UK's big towns and cities. They are being recruited to work in industries and services such as food processing, hospitality and agriculture which are experiencing major problems filling job vacancies.
The report contains an analysis of the people who have contacted the TUC for help with tax and employment matters. The self-employed, which include many construction workers, do not register in this way, and therefore this survey cannot provide any insight into their work patterns.
While 23 per cent are to be found in London and 13 per cent are working in the South East, more than 40% of Eastern European workers are to be found in the rural counties of the Midlands, East Anglia and the South West, with Lincolnshire, Norfolk, Kent and Sussex home to the greatest numbers. This compares to official statistics from 2001 which found that 48 per cent of all foreign nationals working in Britain were in the capital, with a further 20 per cent in the South East.
The report includes case studies and makes recommendations including the need for Unions to grasp the challenge thrown down by this new influx of workers and work to recruit large numbers into membership to limit the capacity of employers to exploit, and to prevent divisions from springing up between different groups of workers.
The report can be viewed on the TUC website