Ethics in employment. The case of economic migrants

I. Introduction

It would be appropriate to introduce this chapter by quoting the General Secretary of the Transport and General Workers#x2019; Union, Mr. Tony Woodley who stated that1 #x201c;#x2026; It has become the case in the United Kingdom that too many employers seem intent on denying workers from Poland and elsewhere their rights and indeed systematically exploit them in order to lower business costs#x2026; The combination of unscrupulous behaviour by some employers and the lack of enforcement of the law by the appropriate UK authorities mean the abuse and mistreatment of these workers#x2026; is widespread yet undetected and certainly unpunished#x201d;. Mr. Woodley then went on to say: #x201c;Those who seek to profit from workers#x2019; misery are quick to join forces across nations and continents to meet their objectives. Today, I am calling on you and the UK government to lead the way and do the same #x2013;join forces, work together and combat these criminals#x201d;.

What is being said by Mr. Woodley treats an ethical issue relating to economic migrants. ethics enjoy a long pedigree! the fate of the economic migrant revolves round the notion of ethics. The Middle English word #x201c;ethic#x201d; or #x201c;éthique#x201d; in old French or #x201c;ethicus#x201d; in Latin or originally the Greek #x201c;ethikos#x201d; may be described variously. The notion of #x201c;ethic#x201d; means: relating to morals in human conduct2 or treating of moral questions3, or the science of morals4 or again the rules of conduct recognised in human life, or the science of human duty which may include, besides ethics proper, the science of civil, political or international law5.

Ethicists have long debated as to whether moral action can be justified or demonstrated to be rational, and discussion has also centred on whether such a matter as objective moral truths exists. In western philosophy, schools of ethics may be divided into three kinds. One school, based on Aristotle#x2019;s6 work holds that virtues such as justice, charity and generosity are dispositions to act in ways that are of benefit both to the person possessing these and that person#x2019;s society. the kant school considers the concept of duty central to morality. Thus humans are bound, from a knowledge of their duty as rational beings, to obey the categorical imperative to respect other rational beings. The utilitarian school considers that the guiding principle of conduct should be the greatest happiness or benefit of the greatest number.

From the poetry of Lord Byron, a system of ethics was drawn which #x201c;#x2026; compounded of misanthropy and voluptuousness, a system in which the two great commandments were, to hate your neighbour, and to love your neighbour#x2019;s wife#x201d;7. We live in a world which has achieved brilliance without wisdom, and power without conscience8. All these definitions, sayings and notions are relevant to the discussion which will take place in this chapter and epitomise the attitudes in the ethics of employment practised by unscrupulous employers and unscrupulous recruiting and employment agencies who are in the process of exploiting economic migrants who, because of their weak status9, are easy targetsfor exploitation. It is thus proposed to analyse, through research carried out by the author, how economic migrants from the A8 countries10 as well as from overseas11 are often treated in the united kingdom.

The reader will readily notice that the definitions and notions mentioned above, some of which date back to five hundred years ago and well to the third century B.C., are relevant to the modern world of employment; for we can still apply the science of morals, the rules of conduct recognised in human life, the science of human duty which could include civil, political and international law and the treating of moral questions in employment. Nor is Lord Byron#x2019;s system of ethics an out -dated one. Misanthropy exists in the world of employment when the recruiting / employment agency or employer, through their behaviour, show #x201c;hate#x201d; towards the worker, such as #x201c;hate crime#x201d; or abuses, illtreats or exploits him/her. As for loving #x201c;#x2026;your neighbour#x2019;s wife#x201d; that is immoral! Neither is it laudable to have brilliance without wisdom and power without conscience! That may not be unethical but it could prove disastrous!

An analysis will be made presently on the exploitation and abuse of the economic migrants. it consists of numerous species of unethical practices.

As the area of exploitation and abuse covers wide ranging fields, it is proposed, for the sake of clarity, to divide these into sections, each treating a specific field. These will include (a) health and safety at work; (b) working and living conditions; (c) inti...

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