Documentos CIDOB Migraciones; 14

This study reveals some fundamental aspects regarding Colombian labour immigration in three regions in Barcelona province (El Barcelonés, El Baix Llobregat y el Vallès Occidental). The data places these migrants in the secondary and tertiary sectors. The figures obtained through a comparative study of the levels of labour precariousness between the Colombian group and the autochthonous group show that such precariousness has a double impact on the former group. The study claims that the factor that proved most detrimental to Colombian immigrants in 2002 (the year in which the study was carried out) was the insufficient cover provided by social protection, caused both by a lack of regularisation on the work market and by the instability of labour continuity, owing to the predominantly temporary nature of immigrant employment. The study includes an interesting Precariousness Rate which analyses different aspects of the working conditions of both foreign and autochthonous workers. As a final reflection, the author stresses that the struggle for the defence of human rights and labour equality in broad, plural democratic societies should not be determined by geographical and/or genetic factors.

María Gertrudis Roa is a lecturer in sociology at Valle University, Cali (Colombia)

ISSN: 1697-7734 (print edition)
ISSN: 1697-8145 (online edition)

51 pp.

Download publication