Press Release - 16 December 2016 ‘I am proud that many of our affiliates support, defend and organise undocumented migrants, as they fight for access to public services, such as health and education’, said EPSU General Secretary, Jan Willem Goudriaan, addressing the upcoming International Migrants Day (18 December). He went on to say, ‘we support the work the ETUC is undertaking on undocumented migrants. We particularly welcome today’s publication of the report Defending Undocumented Migrants, a joint publication by the ETUC and Union Migrant Net’.
The report demolishes the myth that undocumented migrants do not have rights, setting out both their international and EU rights. It goes on to clearly document the brutal racism undocumented migrants face, in large part - due to their precarious position - in often being excluded from society and denied access to public services.
Referencing the new report Goudriaan stated: ‘All workers have rights, including undocumented migrants, workers and trade unions must continue to fight to enforce these rights, including decent access to public services such as health and child care. We will continue fighting for a humane migration policy, which is in line with international standards and fundamental human rights’.
In another development EPSU reports that social partners on the European Sectoral Social Dialogue Committee on Local and Regional Governments, last week approved and adopted joint EPSU-CEMR guidelines on migration and strengthening anti-discrimination measures in European local authorities. The revised guidelines address the plight of undocumented migrants. The measures recognised the importance of inclusion in the labour market, in terms of deepening inclusion in the broader European societies. They also recognise the need to shorten the time from arrival to work. EPSU believes that these ‘guidelines reflect the natural competence of local governments, when it comes to addressing and promoting the importance of labour market integration of both documented and undocumented migrant workers’
Press Contact
Martin Todd, EPSU Press officer +32479680176 [email protected]
EPSU is the European Federation of Public Service Unions. It is the largest federation of the ETUC and comprises 8 million public service workers from over 263 trade unions; EPSU organises workers in the energy, water and waste sectors, health and social services and local, regional and central government, in all European countries including the EU’s Eastern Neighborhood. EPSU is the recognized regional organization of Public Services International (PSI). For more information please go to: http://www.epsu.org
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