Migrant Labor Exploitation and Resistance in the Tech Sector

• In Event: From Shop Floors to Work from Home: Workplace Determinants of Political Behavior

Abstract

Since the early 2000s, government and non-profit organizations around the world have significantly increased anti-human trafficking efforts. However, today, researchers critique anti-trafficking methods for lack of empirical data, lack of understanding of labor trafficking, and policing of migrant populations. In addition, anti-trafficking campaigns frequently portray victims as helpless, even though researchers show laborers resist oppressive working conditions. Anti-trafficking has also been adopted by right-wing extremists who spread misinformation, conspiracy theories, and savior stories which often revolve around protecting women and children. Using an Abolitionist Feminism framework, I explore these conflicting narratives in anti-trafficking by studying migrant laborer experiences and the ways communities resist oppressive working conditions. I focus on two populations in the tech sector who have experienced exploitation - informational technology workers on specialty visas and delivery workers with no or non-work visa status. To examine worker experiences, I create a labor trafficking continuum by organizing definitions of trafficking and exploitation from global and regional organizations. Using data from a survey and semi-structured interviews with tech workers, lawyers, social workers, and community organizations, I chart laborer experiences on the continuum. I also ask workers whom they turn to when facing exploitation and their suggestions for improving working conditions. I anticipate finding that many participants will have experiences that fit within the labor trafficking continuum and that workers turn to community members for support rather than seeking government assistance. I expect that workers will argue that greater leniency in immigration policy is the primary aspect that would reduce exploitation. This project has important implications for policy in how it reveals the ways workers experience exploitation in comparison to commonly used definitions of trafficking. By delineating between the extremes of trafficking and workplace exploitation, policies can be fine-tuned to better protect migrants from exploitation. Workers in these populations are organizing for improved conditions, and how workers' communities support themselves offers providers insights into reimaging methods to current support services for those experiencing trafficking and survivors. I make recommendations on how to approach and navigate restrictive immigration and human trafficking policies based on participants' current support activities and visions for safer working conditions.

Author

• Dylan O'Donoghue