Migration, migrant workers and capitalism

Consider these two scenarios. The first is in Ireland in December 2005 when 100,000 Irish, Polish, Lithuanian and Latvian workers demonstrated together against attempts by bosses to recruit migrant workers on worse pay and conditions than Irish workers. The second is in the UK in January 2009 with hundreds of workers taking industrial action under the slogan of “British jobs for British workers”. The former reflects the possibility of solidarity and a rejection of “divide and rule”. The latter is an alarming situation in which fearful workers turn on “foreigners” as the UK economy haemorrhages jobs and plunges into a deepening crisis [opening paragraph]