An age of insecurity

Strikes over Italian workers at the Total Lindsey oil refinery were rooted in a toxic mix of job insecurity and the unfairness of the credit crunch, not racism.

Blue collar workers are facing blow after sharp blow as construction and manufacturing contracts disappear. Those knocked out will be down long, as fewer possess easily transferable skills compared to white collar labour. Many will fall behind on mortgages, and many will lose their homes.

In the fifteen years of boom before the current recession, strikes against the international movement of labour were virtually nonexistent in the UK. Industrial action now stems from a vulnerability among workers left immobile and ill-prepared to deal with the brunt of a banking crisis by the government's somewhat paltry career advice provision. Any and all competition increases the chances of their greatest fears being realised.

Historically, fear is one of racism's triggers. After a decline in racism in the UK by the early Nineties, race relations were set back by the EU absorption of ten new countries in May 2004, when more than 400,000 citizens from new member states arrived in the UK. Now experts warn of a trend towards narrow xenophobia and protectionism across Europe as the credit crunch continues to hit people's employment prospects.

So far there has been no uniform message coming from government. Gordon Brown has preached to EU partners and British blue collar workers that protectionism is technically unworkable and economically damaging. Yet this summer, new university graduates - most of whom won't be struggling to pay mortgages or to feed families - could benefit from government plans to limit the number of skilled white collar workers allowed to enter the UK.

That's not to say graduates will have an easy ride. David Blanchflower, influential economist and member of the Bank of England's monetary policy committee, has warned long term unemployment could impress "permanent scars" on Generation Crunch. To avoid this, a recent report by the cross-party innovation, universities, skills and science (IUSS) committee recommends 18-25 year olds be more 'realistic' about courses and work opportunities.

But graduates shifting their sights from white to blue collar work will compete against workers like the Lindsey strikers, potentially exasperating the problem of employment for industrial workers.

The answer from the IUSS is rapid 're-skilling', perhaps preparing people for jobs within the large capital spending initiatives the government is planning - though many of those posts will need to be filled by experienced construction workers, of which there will be a ready supply from a contracting industry that employs 400,000 UK workers.

Gordon Brown has pledged to help 500,000 people into work or work-focussed training over the next two years, when competition for jobs will be fiercest. He will also attempt to tackle this island nation's complex relationship with 'abroad' and get out the message that every EU country - including Britain - depends on foreign labour.

It's a confusing message. On one hand, the 'British jobs' slogan is Brown's own. On the other, the government is still selling the case for international trade both at home and abroad. As the recession bites harder, and the government weighs up liberal principles on one hand and electoral populism on the other, that message may end up getting murkier still.

By Laura Miller