Chinese Whispers: The True Story Behind Britain's Hidden Army of Labour
07/10/2010 - 16:00
7 October 2010
16.00-18.00 hrs.
Amsterdam
A lecture & documentary by Hsiao-Hung Pai. Hsiao-Hung Pai's presentation is complemented by Dr. Barak Kalir who will discuss his research on "Chinese Labour Migration to Israel". Further comments by Prof. Dr. Frank Pieke (Modern China Studies, Leiden University)
There are tens of thousands of undocumented Chinese migrant workers in Britain today. Since two decades ago, they have entered the UK through both formal and informal channels. Their number has increased since the beginning of this century and is estimated to be between 70,000 and 200,000. In the past decade, undocumented Chinese workers have broken away from the confinement of the employment pattern which began in the 1950s when the only employment for Chinese migrants in Britain was in the Chinese catering trade. They have moved into mainstream manual labour – from hospitality, domestic service and manufacturing, to food-processing and seasonal agriculture. Instead of leading a self-sufficient working life within their own communities (as their predecessors did), and maintaining a pattern of migration independent of the general supply of labour in Britain, these new Chinese workers have become the bottom layer – and the most vulnerable section – of Britain’s workforce.
Once in Britain, these migrants are confronted with an under-regulated world of recruitment where exploitation is commonplace. Through unlicensed recruiters and agencies, they descend into the world of informal economy where their namelessness and invisibility guarantees the absence of their employment rights and human rights. As builders, chefs, kitchen porters, vegetable pickers, salad processors, hotel housekeepers, domestic workers, residential home carers, and so on, they endure inhumane working and living conditions. Their vulnerability is characterized by the under-minimum pay; non-payment of wages or large and unexplained deductions from wages; the absence of employment contracts; long working hours; poor and dangerous work conditions; discrimination, bullying and racism.
Hsiao-Hung Pai will discuss what motivates and continues this ongoing migration from China. What have compelled the individuals to migrate to the West, particularly the UK, despite the super-exploitation they will be facing here? Why would the widow of a migrant who died working in Britain want to borrow another £20,000 to send her young daughter here? Hsiao-Hung Pai will illustrate her research with documentary material which is based on two years of travels across China, following in the footsteps of migrant workers. She witnessed rural life in the Yellow River region, and saw what working life is like in the manufacturing south that was worst hit by the economic crisis.
Location
University of Amsterdam
Binnengasthuis - Room 2.21
Entrance free - Registration necessary (seats are limited): michiel.baas@uva.nl
This lecture is organized by the International Institute for Asian Studies (IIAS) in Amsterdam