CERIC Anniversary Webinars: The value of work in the pandemic and the post-Brexit regulation of migration

Gabriella Alberti provides a new insight into the post-Brexit regulation of migration.

Watch this webinar here.

Abstract

This presentation draws from a collaborative research conducted with CERIC members Ioulia Bessa, Zyama Ciupijus, Jo Cutter, Chris Forde and Maisie Roberts on the post- Brexit regulation of labour mobility in the UK and its implications for employment relations. It draws in particular on a recent co-authored Briefing (“The coronavirus pandemic and the post-Brexit regulation of migration”) that looks at the new Point-based system for immigration- regulating both EU and non-EU migration for work to the UK,  through the lens of the COVID-19 pandemic and its dramatic socio-economic effects. Mapping and evaluating the key policy controversies emerged around central aspects of new migration system- such as the ‘Shortage occupation list’ and the ‘Salary threshold’ which will determine the ability of migrants to work in UK from January 2021, the paper focuses on the questions of the value of work, claiming that the current health crisis has brought into sharper relief the social and public value of so called low skilled jobs in sectors like health, distribution and agriculture often filled in by migrant workers. Discussing the tension between changing public perceptions of work and government policies on immigration the paper concludes by reflecting on the challenges emerging by what we call the ‘double crisis of labour mobility’, and the role that key actors in employment relations may play in this transition.

Presenter 

Dr Gabriella Alberti is an Associate Professor in Work and Employment Relations. Through an intersectional feminist Marxist lens Gabriella’s research focuses on migrant precarious employment, intra-EU mobility, migration and temporary agencies, trade unions, social movements and community organising.

This recorded webinar will be chaired by Professor Chris Forde.