ABSTRACT
Temporary labour migration is a contemporary global phenomenon driven by unequal economic relations within and between states, but also by conflict, repression and even natural disasters. Its strong historical precedents notwithstanding, international labour migration has been transformed in recent decades by the ease of transportation, which has enabled workers to travel between home and host country (and to second and third host countries) on short-term contracts. While clearly of benefit to capital both as a cheap form of waged labour and through the role that foreign domestic workers play in the reproduction of the local labour force, the presence of large numbers of temporary migrants presents a dilemma to host-country governments, which struggle to balance the demands of economic growth and the social implications of the decision to import ‘second-class’ workers. In an attempt to manage these risks, they seek to control flows of migrant workers – in many cases, strongly supported by local trade unions concerned with the welfare of their (local) members. Southeast Asia, which encompasses key source and destination countries, offers a useful case
study of the politics of temporary labour migration. The importance of foreign contract workers to the economic well-being of both groups of countries has led to contests within and between governments over questions of jurisdiction. While facilitating short-term migration, governments continue to frame foreign labour primarily as a migration or security issue. However, it has become increasingly obvious that large-scale temporary labour migration is of great consequence not only in terms of border controls, but also in terms of labour relations. Indeed, many of the social and political difficulties that have arisen around the rapid growth in this kind of migration have their roots in the ambiguous position of low-skilled foreign contract workers within the labour markets and industrial relations systems of the countries where they are employed. This chapter examines the political economy of labour migration in the region, with a focus on
its implications for collective action. It argues that the pivotal role of temporary labour migrants in Southeast Asia poses intellectual and practical challenges to the way we think about work, mobility and the nature and exercise of labour rights both by individuals and collectively. While temporary labour migration is a serious short-term threat to already weak trade unions in the region, internationally driven responses to the challenge it presents also offer hope of reinvention and renewal. If even only partially successful, attempts to broaden union constituencies and develop alliances across sectors and national boundaries stand to better equip trade unions to deal not only with temporary labour migration but with the other challenges to organized labour posed by neoliberalism.1
