Papadopoulos et al., 2018), as well as in the hospitality industry (Maroukis, 2016) and care sector (Maroukis, 2017).
In other words, the Greek case is not that different from other national cases, especially other Southern European countries that share similar characteristics and challenges in the regulation of work and industrial relations, such as strong clientelism, low levels of policy coordination, a history of adversarial industrial relations, and trade union fragmentation (Rodríguez & Lucio, 2023; Zambarloukou, 2006).
In Greece, as in other countries, migrants’ jobs are typically temporary offering minimal welfare benefits, and the societal integration of migrants is limited and inadequately addressed by the government, welfare services, and trade unions (Kapsalis, 2010). The position of migrants in the Greek society and economy aligns with the broader trends identified in the international sociological literature on labour migration (Afouxenidis et al., 2012; Anderson, 2010; Kalleberg, 2009; Phizacklea & Miles, 1980).
As elsewhere, immigrants in Greece continue to form a flexible, segmented workforce reserve due to their usual detachment from specializations, networks, and trade unions (Burawoy, 1972; Behtoui & Neergaard, 2012; Portes et al., 2007). This marginalization includes practices such as employers withholding wages and failing to pay workers on time, which is commonly documented in the literature as a typical method of controlling migrant labour (Ortiz, 2002; Papadopoulos et al., 2018). Further, this development is shaped by specific economic factors, as well as historical contexts and legacies in both migration policy and labour regulation in Greece.
More specifically, during the 1990s and mid-2000s, migrant workers from Africa and Asia were disproportionately employed in the booming construction and agriculture sectors (Mexi, 2019). At that time, Greece had one of the highest rates of international migrants among European nations and one of the highest gross domestic product (GDP) growth rates in Europe (Baldwin-Edwards, 2004). Nevertheless, the disorganized nature of immigration primarily benefited employers, as migrants lacked union voice and representation, while in certain cases employers exerted direct and even violent control over workers.
This was well-illustrated by the events at the Manolada strawberry fields, where indigenous farmers fired upon Bangladeshi migrants protesting against months of unpaid wages and inhumane living and working conditions (Kapsalis et al., 2020). Work in Manolada has been characterized by severe exploitation and inhuman living conditions for migrant workers (Papadopoulos et al., 2018). In general, almost all relevant migration studies highlight significant peculiarities of migrant labour in the Greek economy including the pronounced role of the family in welfare and employment provision, coupled with the informal nature of the labour market.
2 MIGRANT LABOUR IN THE GREEK GIG ECONOMY
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