Supporting Migrants in Switzerland

The organisation of and the work with migrants within the trade union in Switzerland has undoubtedly had enormous benefits. On one side, it has contributed to the strengthening of the union in its role as the representative of all workers, including those who are more vulnerable to abuse, injustice, and disrespect. It has enabled the achievement of many rights for migrants – as workers, as people, and as citizens – and the improvement of their legal situation and their integration in the working world and in society. On the other side, the functioning and the shaping of the trade union has benefited from the knowledge, the experience, and the know how of people from other countries and cultures. The potential among migrants is of great value not only for employers, but also for the organisations representative of employees. In Switzerland, this potential was luckily identified soon enough by some trade unions.

The new political and economic environment in Europe does not make the task of trade unions in their work with migrant workers easy. The increasingly precarious forms of employment and working conditions, the great mobility of workers, the temporary status of work, and so on, pose new challenges to trade unions. In response, new forms of work and new projects are being tried out. Cooperative work with trade unions in the home countries of migrants, the cross-border trade union work in the form of committees, research and work groups, the European Trade Union Confederation, or the project of an European migrant workers network are some examples.