Research project
Collaborative action on the future of migrant working conditions in Yorkshire warehousing
- Start date: 1 May 2024
- End date: 1 December 2024
- Principal investigator: Dr Abbie Winton
- Co-investigators: Professor Charles Umney; Dr Gabriella Alberti
Description
This project supports part of the impact strategy of a wider project looking at the changing use of technology in warehousing (see Humans in Digital Logistics webpage). It aims to co-produce a set of principles which will inform how migrant support organisations and local government actors can work together to improve the support given to workers in the warehousing sector.
The ultimate goal of the project is to inform policy debate and outcomes relating to migrant experiences in warehousing work, and create organisational resources (e.g a set of principles which influence how different stakeholders involved in migrant support engage at a regional level) that can help shape policy development and dialogue among multiple stakeholders in this sector.
Migrants remain a vital source of labour for warehousing employers, but often work in conditions with weaker labour protections and fewer resources and opportunities to seek support at work. Migrant support charities play an unseen but vital role in filling urgent gaps in warehouse work ecosystems: they might connect migrant workers with warehousing jobs, represent them in work-related disputes, acquainting migrants with key rights at work and lobby policymakers to secure better protections in the industry.
This project is funded by Leeds University Business School’s Impact and Engagement Support Fund.