Study title

This study into ethnic minority workers who have experienced problems at work was concerned with understanding more about how individuals went about dealing with the issues they faced. The project explored to whom people turned and what help they received and the extent to which they were able to get a resolution to their problems. This study focused on minority ethnic workers, Kurdish in Hackney, South Asian (originating from the Indian sub-continent) in Ealing and Caribbean in Lambeth. In-depth face-to-face interviews were undertaken with a total of 185 workers - 100 individually and 88 in 16 focus groups (three focus group participants were also interviewed individually) and 64 interviews with ‘key respondents’ who were officials from trade unions, advice agencies and community groups. Focus groups were not transcribed. The minority ethnic groups chosen represent long-established (Caribbean, followed by South Asian) and more recent (Kurdish) minority ethnic communities in the UK. The labour market position of each community is quite distinct, although not homogeneous, ranging from concentrations in local government, the health service and London Transport (Caribbeans in Lambeth); Heathrow airport related employment and heath service (South Asians in Ealing); food processing and small businesses (Kurds in Hackney). The research will theorise the lack of connection between different social actors (ethnic minority workers and trade unions) by considering whether the notion of intersectionality allows for a deeper understanding of how material structures and cultural meanings are interwoven and worked out in practice. The research will attempt to understand the linkages between, and relative significance of, different forms of social divisions as mediated by ethnicity, class, faith, secularism, gender, age, migration, etc. It will also explore whether barriers to engagement exist for some groups of ethnic minority workers in joining or taking part in trade unions...