Media reports March 08

29 March 08
Curry restaurants take fight to save staff to Westminster EDINBURGH’S curry restaurants have vowed to take the fight to save their workers to Westminster, as hopes are raised that they might escape tough new immigration rules.
27 March 08
What if all the Poles went home? Builders. Nannies. Engineers. Fruit pickers. Hard working Poles have been earning pounds and providing extra labour since 2004. What if they all decide to leave?
Power of language – English classes at work Migrant Workers – and the companies who employ them – are benefiting from the SQA’s work-based English qualifications employment focus.
26 March 08
Portraits of respect Photojournalist Simon Rawles found migrant care workers to be hard-working and popular, doing jobs no one else wanted. So why is their future in the UK so uncertain?
25 March 08
How do foreign staff view the NHS? The NHS is Britain’s biggest workforce and experts say immigration has helped sustain it at many hospitals in recent years.
Skilled migrants are vital to economy, study says A record number of highly skilled migrant workers such as nurses and teachers will enter Britain over the next four years, contributing an estimated £77bn to the country’s economy, according to new research by an economic thinktank. Tesco probes 8p-an-hour wage claims Supermarket giant Tesco has launched an inquiry into claims that some of its overseas workers are earning just 8p an hour.
22 March 08
Gangmaster loses employment licence A gangmaster who supplied workers for some of the country’s biggest chocolate, bread and salad manufacturers has lost his licence after forcing migrants to live in rundown, cramped accommodation for which they had to pay over the odds. GLA press release
Raids trap Lincolnshire gangmasters Thirteen licensed gangmasters operating in the area are now under investigation after officers found cases of workers not being paid the agricultural minimum wage, not receiving holiday pay and being charged for accommodation without being given work. GLA press release Unite, the Union statement
17 March 08
Trade unionists show Solidarity with migrant workers Unionlearn (the TUC’s learning and skills organisation), along with a multi-union group, are visiting Gdansk, Poland as guests of the Polish trade union Solidarity.
Immigration rules are ‘unrealistic’ Planned new immigration rules that will require institutions to report all overseas students who miss lectures are unworkable, universities say.
14 March 08
Flexible immigration policy call The UK’s equality watchdog has suggested immigration policy should be “tilted” to help Scotland acquire the skills it needs.
‘Fix’ immigration so foreign workers flock to Scotland
UK Poles attack Daily Mail ‘bias’ The Federation of Poles in Great Britain has filed a complaint to the Press Complaints Commission accusing the Daily Mail of defaming Polish residents in the UK.
Poles accuse ‘Daily Mail’ of defaming community
13 March 08
Let’s have some solidarity Problems between the various generations of Poles now resident in the UK have existed for a while, but these have come to a real head since Poland joined the EU.
Curry bosses stage immigration law demo Indian restaurant bosses will stage a protest at Holyrood today over changes to immigration laws. Restaurant owners claim legislation which came in at the end of February makes it harder for them to bring in staff from outside the European Union. And they say that that has created a shortage of kitchen staff in their eateries.
Restaurant bosses stage protest
12 March 08
Website Welcomes migrant workers to Outer Hebrides A Russian woman who has lived and worked in the Outer Hebrides for six years has set up a website giving practical advice to migrant workers. The new website www.epbr.co.uk gives easy access to such things as employment rights, how to open a bank account, register a car and learn English.
11 March 08
Immigration: ‘Time Holyrood met some of the bills’ European migrants are to be welcomed…But welcoming such high numbers is not without its cost and, to date, the Government seems to be taking no account of this and making no provision for authorities facing the challenges involved.
10 March 08
Powell’s ghost is awake, Racism is everywhere. In 1968, the Government rushed through an immigration law, described by Auberon Waugh as “one of the most immoral pieces of legislation ever to emerge from any British parliament”. Forty years on exactly, I am filled with foreboding as I witness my country giving way again to those contemptible instincts of 1968.
9 March 08
Migrant workers too easy to exploit, claim unions Eastern European migrant workers are better protected against being fired and exploited in their own countries than in Northern Ireland, the Irish trade union movement claimed this weekend. ‘We know of at least 10 women who got pregnant and found themselves in the same situation – sacked without any compensation,’
Poles in Fife welcome major migrant study Polish community leaders in Fife have given their support to the largest ever study into migrant workers in Scotland. Almost 1000 workers took part in the survey.
Study highlights overqualification among migrant workers
Eastern promise must be fulfilled Margo MacDonald, Scotsman 12 March 08
>>research findings
Poles in London head home as UK dream fades A recent survey found 18% of London’s rough sleepers are now eastern and central Europeans. Twice a month a Polish Charity, the Barka Foundation, carries some of the most vulnerable cases from London back to Poland for detoxification, voluntary resettlement and retraining.
5 March 08
Migrants challenge rule changes The government’s decision to change the rules for highly skilled immigrants is facing a challenge in the High Court.
“Unlawful, unreasonable and unfair by a considerable margin”
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June 2008
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February 2008