Pro-market governance, migration status and worker vulnerability: The case of Australian horticulture

Diane van den Broek, Chris F Wright, Joanna Howe and Alexander Reilly
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Diane van den Broek: Discipline of Work and Organisational Studies, University of Sydney, Australia
Chris F Wright: Discipline of Work and Organisational Studies, University of Sydney, Australia
Joanna Howe: University of Adelaide, Australia
Alexander Reilly: Adelaide Law School, Australia

Economic and Industrial Democracy, 2021, vol. 42, issue 4, 1305-1325

Abstract: The migration status of temporary migrant workers is often presented as a major determinant of labour rights and worker vulnerabilities. Using a sequential mixed method approach this article interrogates this proposition to examine the factors exacerbating temporary migrant worker exploitation within the Australian horticulture industry. The article finds that temporary migrants’ access to labour rights are shaped by their migration status. However, in contrast to prevalent assumptions, visa conditions play a preliminary, rather than a deterministic, role in this vulnerability. The article argues that notwithstanding the considerable links between vulnerability and migration status, changes in the political economy of Australian horticulture towards neoliberal or ‘pro-market governance’ arrangements have been central drivers of worker vulnerability. It focuses on three manifestations of these arrangements – the intensification of supply chain pressures, the emergence of labour market intermediaries, and the reduced presence of trade unions – as critical actors shaping temporary migrant worker agency.

Keywords: Horticulture; intermediaries; labour rights; migrant workers; supply chains; worker precarity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:ecoind:v:42:y:2021:i:4:p:1305-1325

DOI: 10.1177/0143831X19861750

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