The exploitation of migrant workers was highlighted today at a conference called to look at working conditions for migrant workers in the current downturn.
Giving the keynote address, BBC Newsnight's economics editor Paul Mason called for "a language better than racism" to be able to discuss migration issues. "[We need to talk] about what migrant workers mean, what it means to have your food replaced and you culture replaced by other people's culture," he said.
Mr Mason said the UK and the rest of Europe were also dealing with the "massively unresolved question" of undocumented migrants. There was a growing acceptance that the number of undocumented migrants in the UK could be as high as one million, he said.
Mr Mason described as "really shocking" the collapse in global trading and outsourcing. He highlighted the collapse in manufacturing exports in particular. "So South Korea, China and Japan are all seeing a 40 per cent annual rate of collapse of their exports," he said and questioned if people wanted to retreat to closed markets and protectionism.
Migrant Rights Centre director Siobhán O'Donoghue warned against shying away from racism where it was found to exist. "Here in Ireland for the last number of years we've actually stopped talking about racism. We've started talking about culture," she said. "Under the guise of culture . . . a lot of racist things are said."
She claimed the Government was using migrant workers as "convenient scapegoats" to distract from the State's employment problems. Some 13,000 work permits were issued last year and this was a relatively small number, she said, but Fianna Fáil backbenchers Noel O'Flynn and Ned O'Keeffe had called on the Government to review the issuing of permits to people from outside the European Union.
"13,000 work permits are going to distract us again from the real issue of huge employment problems that this country is facing, by somehow or other blaming 13,000 people," Ms O'Donoghue said.
Ictu legislation and social affairs officer Esther Lynch said she was "very concerned" at discussions played out in the media that pitted workers against each other. Private sector workers were pitted against public sector, full time against part time and women against men. "And nothing surer, there will soon be discourse, and horrible discourse, built on racism," she said.
The trade union movement has sometimes been very good at challenging this discourse. "But then again the trade union industry has not always played a positive leadership role, and I think we have to recognise that," she said.
