Solidarity has many faces - exploitation too!

Berlin, May 01.05.2023st, XNUMX. The DGB, German Trade Union Confederation, is celebrating this year's day of struggle of the working class under the motto "unbroken solidarity". But how far does our solidarity reach? We know that there is no solidarity when migrants are employed in exploitative employment relationships in order to relieve German society in areas such as the health sector, the construction industry or agriculture.

According to the ILO, industrialized countries in particular benefit worldwide from labor migration (so-called migrant workers).  According to Statista, in 2019 there were 63,8 million migrant workers in Europe and Central Asia, more than half of whom were women. However, their employment relationships are often characterized by a lack of occupational safety and health, no protection through collective agreements, or are not covered by social security. Social security, which is a human right, is therefore absent. In women in particular, these precarious conditions are compounded by isolation and the use of physical or sexual violence.

In Germany, the wage gap between German workers and migrant workers is also significant. According to the ZEW study from 2008, they earn around 20% less than German women, which does not include the general gender pay gap of 18%.

The relevance of labor migration is particularly evident in the healthcare sector. People with a migration background make up more than a quarter of the medical profession in Germany. You are a key force without which the German healthcare system could not be lifted. Exploitation is more evident here for migrant and refugee women who experience racism and sexism at the same time. An example of this is the so-called 24-hour “live-in” employment relationship. The women live with the people to be cared for in a household and work there under unfair and exploitative conditions, often in social isolation.

“Exploitation and precarious working conditions shape the reality of life for numerous refugee and migrant women in Germany. This must no longer be accepted. Unbroken solidarity on May 1st must apply to all of us. With this solidarity, just, fair and safe working conditions and social security must be guaranteed as a human right!” (Lourdes Martínez, CEO DaMigra)

That is why it is so important, on May 1st, to demand that Germany sign and ratify the "International Convention for the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Their Families" of July 1st, 2003.

If we celebrate this day of struggle of the working class, then we do so "unbroken solidarity" and oppose any form of exploitation on the labor market!   

DaMigra eV represents the interests of women migrant organizations and their concerns and advocates equal opportunities, equal participation and the equality of women with a history of migration and refugee experience in Germany. DaMigra follows the approach of anti-racist feminism.