Migrant Workers’ Use of ICTs in Unacceptable Forms of Work

Human migration and displacement have emerged as key global challenges of the century. While the debates continue on the positive and negative consequences of migration, what is certain is that large numbers of workers migrate and serve as a source of cheap, low-skilled, and flexible labour for wealthier countries. In doing so they fill the ‘3-D’ jobs (dangerous, dirty or degrading) that national workers refuse to take. To understand how the International Labor Organization’s (ILO’s) concept of ‘decent work’ can be achieved for migrant workers, we propose to critically analyze what is not ‘decent work’ (defined by ILO as Unacceptable Forms of Work, UFW), and how migrant workers can use Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) to improve their situation. This paper introduces four projects that we are currently undertaking with different migrant worker communities across East Asia, investigating the use of ICTs to empower migrant workers across the spectrum of Unacceptable Forms of Work. More specifically, this paper critically analyzes how migrant workers can use ICTs to support their structural empowerment, human dignity, and physical integrity. The paper shows that ICTs can contribute to the self-empowerment of migrant workers by providing them with the space and tools to adapt to their new environment, develop new skills, and access relevant information. ICTs can also empower migrant workers to exercise their agency when confronted with exploitative work conditions, contributing positively to their physical integrity and human dignity. In the same vein, ICT training can improve the psychosocial well-being of migrant workers, particularly victims of sex trafficking, through improved self-esteem and self-worth. This paper draws together the approaches, outcomes and policy implications of each of these case studies to present locally relevant, practical, theoretical, and methodological contributions in deepening our understanding of how ICTs can improve the condition of migrant workers in UFW.