The Industrial Workers of the World Derry Branch has hit out at growing harassment of - and racist attacks on - migrant workers in recent months. As Covid-19 restrictions ease for now, what little relief was there for precarious, migrant and unhoused workers has disappeared and we have seen an increase in intolerance and intimidation.
Following the arrest and deportation of a Romanian migrant citizen in Derry last week, a spokesperson for the IWW said:
"This is a land which once happily extended a warm céad míle fáilte to everyone just as Irish migrants have been welcomed in other countries throughout the world. However what has been happening in recent times is that this warm welcome only extends to those who are white and wealthy.
"Attacks on migrants come from many quarters. Be that from the political establishment or their courts in the form of harassment, arrests, petty fines, detentions or deportations - or from the press and in public forums on social media.
"Similarly too, migrant workers are attacked in the workplace through unfair practices that curtail their ability to unionise, preventing them from defending their right to equal pay or health and safety, and keeping them isolated or intimidated by ruthless bosses only interested in their profit margins.
"With the ongoing financial crises caused by Covid-19 and the uncertainties of a post-Brexit future, structural racism and inequality that our class face will only get worse and the most vulnerable minorities will feel its impact most keenly. We call on workers and the trade union movement to mobilise to protect and support the most disadvantaged in our society as it is clear those in positions of power have another agenda."