Article "Migration Policy Is Labor Market Policy"

Article by Lisa Carstensen published in the Global Labor Column 

How can solidarity and union organizing work in the context of heterogeneity, segmentation, and fragmentation?

In her article “Migration Policy Is Labor Market Policy,” Lisa Carstensen uses current union strategies regarding migration to demonstrate why migration policy is also labor market policy and why the fragmentation and racism emerging in society and within unions cannot be overcome with “unite and fight” rhetoric. 

The article examines some of the structural characteristics of labor migration and highlights the weaknesses of three common strategies that unions are resorting to in these times. 

Taking these challenges into account, the article outlines three perspectives that could assist in the difficult but crucial endeavor of developing a holistic view of migration within today’s union strategies. 

This article is part of a special series on current challenges in the world of work, which was developed based on a workshop organized in September 2025 at the University of Kassel by alumni, staff, and friends of the Global Labour University.