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Migrant workers trapped between individualism and collectivism: The formation of union-based workplace collectivism

Author

Listed:
  • Bjarke Refslund

    (Aalborg University, Denmark)

  • Markku Sippola

    (University of Helsinki, Finland)

Abstract

Transnational labour migration challenges collectivism as well as migrant workers’ labour market rights, due to employers’ strategies such as segregating workers, and the migrant workers’ individualistic strategies. This article, arguing that there are no intrinsic impediments to creating (instrumental) collectivist solutions encompassing both migrants and host-country workers, develops a dynamic, conceptual framework of four preconditions – workers’ closeness, feeling of unity, shared problem perception and reference groups – which are necessary for migrant workers to develop collective labour market strategies. The article then utilises the framework in three empirical cases to illustrate how the framework, combined with union strategies, helps explain the different degrees of migrant workers’ labour market inclusion and to help understand why gaps between migrant workers and host-country workers may form.

Suggested Citation

  • Bjarke Refslund & Markku Sippola, 2022. "Migrant workers trapped between individualism and collectivism: The formation of union-based workplace collectivism," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 43(3), pages 1004-1027, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:ecoind:v:43:y:2022:i:3:p:1004-1027
    DOI: 10.1177/0143831X20967412
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Charlotte Hooper Overgaard & Laust Høgedahl, 2026. "Employer strategies for undermining migrants’ power resources: Evidence from the Danish construction sector," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 47(1), pages 78-96, February.
    2. Marie Nilsen & Hanne Finnestrand & Trond Kongsvik, 2025. "Unraveling opportunism in platform-mediated work within the Nordic working life model: An institutional complexity perspective," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 46(2), pages 397-422, May.
    3. Quivine Ndomo & Elif Naz Kayran & Ilona Bontenbal & Simona Brunnerová & Sarah Tornberg & Mirjam Pot & Selma Kadi & Martin Kahanec, 2025. "Care on the Margins: Migrant Labour Regimes and the Reproduction of Segmented Long-Term Care Work in the EU," Discussion Papers 74, Central European Labour Studies Institute (CELSI).

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