Labour Standards and Migration in the New Europe: Post-Communist Legacies and Perspectives

Abstract

The post-communist New Member States of Eastern Europe have experienced significant forms of labour exploitation, with deterioration in labour standards and the working environment. This is leading to increasing labour force `exit' on a scale not hitherto anticipated. Migrant workers from the Baltic states, paid lower wages and with poorer working conditions, have been at the centre of a number of high-profile labour disputes in the EU-15. This article uses Latvia as a case study in order to discuss the implications of increasing labour migration for the New Member States and for labour standards in the wider EU.