IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/indrel/v52y2021i2p145-160.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Workplace universalism and the integration of migrant workers and refugees in Germany

Author

Listed:
  • Werner Schmidt
  • Andrea Müller

Abstract

This article looks into differences and similarities between former labour migrants' and today's refugees' workplace integration and asks what role German industrial relations play in integration processes. Drawing on more than 150 interviews, document analysis and three employee attitude surveys, conducted in the course of three research projects, a crucial finding is that despite some differences between labour migrants and refugees in terms of labour market access, education and support programmes, in both cases, workplace integration often works better than integration in German society in general. The integration of both groups is fostered by ‘pragmatic cooperation’ of workers, which is based on everyday encounters and promotes collegiality, and by universal rules for all workers, including the active and passive right to elect works councils. German industrial relations provide the institutional frame for this ‘workplace universalism’. However, workplace integration is under pressure due to polarized societal discourses and eroding industrial relations.

Suggested Citation

  • Werner Schmidt & Andrea Müller, 2021. "Workplace universalism and the integration of migrant workers and refugees in Germany," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(2), pages 145-160, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:indrel:v:52:y:2021:i:2:p:145-160
    DOI: 10.1111/irj.12320
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/irj.12320
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/irj.12320?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Entorf, Horst & Lange, Martin, 2019. "Refugees welcome? Understanding the regional heterogeneity of anti-foreigner hate crimes in Germany," ZEW Discussion Papers 19-005, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    2. Ines Wagner & Nathan Lillie, 2014. "European Integration and the Disembedding of Labour Market Regulation: Transnational Labour Relations at the European Central Bank Construction Site," Journal of Common Market Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(2), pages 403-419, March.
    3. Ellguth Peter & Kohaut Susanne, 2019. "A Note on the Decline of Collective Bargaining Coverage: The Role of Structural Change," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 239(1), pages 39-66, January.
    4. Herbert Brücker & Albrecht Glitz & Adrian Lerche & Agnese Romiti, 2021. "Occupational Recognition and Immigrant Labor Market Outcomes," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 39(2), pages 497-525.
    5. Ines Wagner, 2015. "Rule Enactment in a Pan-European Labour Market: Transnational Posted Work in the German Construction Sector," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 53(4), pages 692-710, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Jirjahn, Uwe & Le, Thi Xuan Thu, 2023. "Works Councils and Workers' Party Preferences in Germany," IZA Discussion Papers 15879, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Fenet Jima Bedaso & Uwe Jirjahn, 2024. "Immigrants and trade union membership: Does integration into society and workplace play a moderating role?," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 62(2), pages 262-292, June.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jens Arnholtz & Chris F. Wright, 2023. "Labor Migration as a Source of Institutional Change: Danish and Australian Construction Sectors Compared," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 76(3), pages 532-555, May.
    2. Dries Lens & Ninke Mussche & Ive Marx, 2022. "The different faces of international posting: Why do companies use posting of workers?," European Journal of Industrial Relations, , vol. 28(1), pages 27-45, March.
    3. Aksoy, Cevat Giray & Poutvaara, Panu & Schikora, Felicitas, 2023. "First time around: Local conditions and multi-dimensional integration of refugees," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    4. Endrich, Marek, 2020. "The good tourist, the bad refugee and the ugly German: Xenophobic activities and tourism," VfS Annual Conference 2020 (Virtual Conference): Gender Economics 224604, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    5. Campo, Francesco & Giunti, Sara & Mendola, Mariapia, 2024. "Refugee crisis and right-wing populism: Evidence from the Italian Dispersal Policy," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 168(C).
    6. Ines Wagner, 2015. "EU posted work and transnational action in the German meat industry," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 21(2), pages 201-213, May.
    7. Engdahl, Mattias & Willis, Sébastien & Åslund, Olof, 2024. "Professional networks and the labour market assimilation of immigrants," Working Paper Series 2024:9, IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy.
    8. Nivorozhkin, Anton & Poeschel, Friedrich, 2022. "Working conditions in essential occupations and the role of migrants," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 250-261.
    9. Celia P. Vera & Bruno Jiménez, 2022. "Do immigrants take or create natives' jobs? Evidence of Venezuelan immigration in Peru," Working Papers 2022-18, Lima School of Economics.
    10. Chiara Benassi & Andreas Kornelakis, 2021. "How Do Employers Choose between Types of Contingent Work? Costs, Control, and Institutional Toying," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 74(3), pages 715-738, May.
    11. Karadja, Mounir & Sundberg, Anton, 2023. "The labor market impact of a taxi driver’s license," Working Paper Series 2023:6, IFAU - Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy.
    12. Silke Anger & Jacopo Bassetto & Malte Sandner, 2024. "Lifting Barriers to Skill Transferability: Immigrant Integration through Occupational Recognition," RF Berlin - CReAM Discussion Paper Series 2427, Rockwool Foundation Berlin (RF Berlin) - Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration (CReAM).
    13. Koumenta, Maria & Pagliero, Mario & Rostam-Afschar, Davud, 2022. "Occupational Regulation, Institutions, and Migrants’ Labor Market Outcomes," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    14. Endrich, Marek, 2020. "A Window to the World: The long-term effect of Television on Hate Crime," ILE Working Paper Series 33, University of Hamburg, Institute of Law and Economics.
    15. Regina T. Riphahn & Irakli Sauer, 2024. "Earnings Assimilation of Post-Reunification East German Migrants in West Germany," CESifo Working Paper Series 11233, CESifo.
    16. Paul Berbée & Jan Stuhler, 2023. "The Integration of Migrants in the German Labor Market: Evidence over 50 Years," RF Berlin - CReAM Discussion Paper Series 2315, Rockwool Foundation Berlin (RF Berlin) - Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration (CReAM).
    17. Seeliger, Martin, 2017. "Die soziale Konstruktion organisierter Interessen: Gewerkschaftliche Positionsbildung auf europäischer Ebene," Schriften aus dem Max-Planck-Institut für Gesellschaftsforschung Köln, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies, volume 89, number 89.
    18. Chassamboulli, Andri & Fontaine, Idriss & Gálvez-Iniesta, Ismael & Gomes, Pedro, 2024. "Immigration and labour market flows," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    19. Venturini, Alessandra & Mosso, Cristina & Ricci, Andrea, 2022. "Cultural Policies for Migrant Inclusion: A Survey," Department of Economics and Statistics Cognetti de Martiis. Working Papers 202216, University of Turin.
    20. Konstantinos Matakos & Riikka Savolainen & Janne Tukiainen, 2020. "Refugee Migration and the Politics of Redistribution: Do Supply and Demand Meet?," Discussion Papers 132, Aboa Centre for Economics.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:indrel:v:52:y:2021:i:2:p:145-160. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0019-8692 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.