Comparative approaches to protecting migrant workers during Covid-19 – Dutch, German and Romanian perspectives

In 2020, Covid-19 outbreaks in Dutch and German slaughterhouses exposed the vulnerable legal, socio-economic and health care situation of many migrant EU workers upon whom the meat industry is reliant. In this paper we present preliminary findings from an ongoing interdisciplinary project that examines policy and enforcement measures to prevent such outbreaks and improve general well-being of migrant workers in essential sectors. Interviews with stakeholders and migrants confirm that access to social protection and health-care were experienced as particularly problematic during the Covid-19 pandemic. In this paper we focus on EU migrants employed in the meat industry and zoom-in on Dutch, German and Romanian institutional responses that affect migrants’ access to social protection. Preliminary findings show diverse and uncoordinated approaches, with little attention being paid to existing EU legal frameworks. The German response focuses on enacting new legislation prohibiting outsourcing in the meat processing industry, setting standards for housing of migrant workers and facilitating the integration of accompanying family members. Meanwhile, the Dutch authorities created an adhoc advisory body which suggested a complex set of measures largely built on private party certification, private enforcement and collective labour contract negotiations. Lastly, Romania’s Covid-19 legislative package did little to mitigate the situation of returning own nationals affected by the crisis in other EU states. We seek to question how governmental bodies at different levels (EU, national and regional) cooperate, enforce, and mediate different policies and practices with respect to migrant workers during and after Covid-19 and with what effects for individual migrants.