Organizing migrant care workers in Israel: Industrial citizenship and the trade union option

Abstract

The authors examine the feasibility of trade unionism for migrant care workers, based on a recent organizing drive in Israel. Distinguishing between trade unions and other civil society organizations, they re‐examine the concept of workers' collective action, looking at what constitutes a trade union and to what extent unions can address the specific concerns of migrant care workers. They conclude that, despite the numerous problems involved in organizing migrant care workers, and the vulnerabilities intrinsic to migration processes, gendered work and the occupation of care, trade unions play an important role in establishing industrial citizenship and forming political agency.

Violations of workers’ rights and exposure to work-related abuse of live-in migrant and live-out local home care workers – a preliminary study: implications for health policy and practice

“…Israel is not different, as it refuses to sign the international treaty on the welfare of home care workers, which secures rights such as overtime payment and the right to move from one employer to another freely and without any restrictions [ 46 ]. Instead, this responsibility is almost completely delegated to the home care agencies that recruit the workers [ 9 ]. In addition although the Israeli law determines that a social worker from the home care agency must visit the care recipient “regularly”, in practice such visits are performed only once in 4 months.…”

“…Migrant home care workers might be at greater risk for exploitation and work-related abuse compared with local home care workers, as they are in the middle of the “three axes of disadvantage” [ 9 ]. In addition to the intimate nature of their job and the gendered aspect of care work, their vulnerability stems from their migratory status as temporary visitors [ 9 ]. As a result, their duties and rights are different from that of citizens [ 9 ].…”

“…In addition to the intimate nature of their job and the gendered aspect of care work, their vulnerability stems from their migratory status as temporary visitors [ 9 ]. As a result, their duties and rights are different from that of citizens [ 9 ]. Moreover, many migrant care workers pay thousands of dollars to obtain a work permit in the host country [ 10 , 11 ].…”

The transformation of Industrial Citizenship in the course of European integration

“…Drawing on the evolution and transformation of economic/industrial citizen rights, we will inquire into the concept in relation to both national regulation and European integration. Although industrial citizenship was only a minor aspect of Marshall's approach in particular and the broad (social) citizenship discussion in general,2 some studies’ analytic framework is related to the concept (Bagguley, 2013; Coutu, 2014; Fudge, 2005; Greer et al., 2013; Müller‐Jentsch, 2008; Mundlak & Shamir, 2014; Strangleman, 2015; Streeck, 1997a; Zetlin & Whitehouse., 2003; Zhang & Lillie, 2015). However, it is often used in a very broad sense.…”

Hard-working Heroes or Curious Students? - Au pair Positioning, Organizing, and Negotiation

“…This lack of citizenship and recognition can also prevent migrant domestic workers from being devoted to unions (Albin & Mantouvalou 2016). The nature of domestic workespecially for live-in workers -with long working hours any time of day also leaves little time for organizing and/or union activities (Ford 2004;Mundlak & Shamir 2014) and tends to challenge the sustainability of such initiatives when they do take place (Jiang & Korczynski 2016). Furthermore, 'worker identity' (or lack thereof) among migrant domestic workers affects their prospects for organizing and negotiating working conditions, as being 'part of the family' and the connotations of domestic work with the identity of a 'servant' with loyalty, obligation, and patronage as key elements can veil the employer/employee relationship (Jiang & Korczynski 2016: 817).…”