Tackling racism at the workplace

Abstract

The aim of my thesis is to examine the presence of racism at the workplace and identify ways and means of curbing abuse which is now becoming a common factor in our daily life. Despite the lack of evidence and statistics, analysts conclude that racism is still present at the workplace despite various measures to try and reduce as much as possible this type of abuse. Evidence gathered by the European Union hints that a high percentage of migrant workers or other minorities are unemployed, suggesting that fewer companies are hiring migrants. Although this does not constitute racism as such, these facts still make people wonder, more so if some of these unemployed are well educated. Moreover, migrant workers who do find jobs are usually entrusted with dirty, demeaning jobs which usually have minimal health and safety protection. Trade unions at a national and local level as well as representatives at workplace level have an important role to play in preventing unlawful discrimination and in promoting equal opportunities and good inter-race relations. Often, trade unions are criticized because they become confined to dealing with the results of racism in the workplace rather than tackling the causes. Moreover, they receive criticism for the simple reason that they deny racism is present at the workplace.