Trade Unions, Immigration, and Immigrants in Europe: A Comparative Study of the Actions of Trade Unions in Seven West European Countries : Berghahn Books : 9781571817860 : 1571817867 : 01 Jan 2002 : European trade unions are among the most influential and powerful institutions within Western economies, in many cases cooperating with the government and employers' associations in socio-economic decision-making processes. Consequently they also play an important role in the formulation of policies relating to immigration and the migrant workers, who are arriving and becoming part of the workforce the unions are representing and protecting against employers and other authorities. However, trade unions have not always fulfilled their role as the most obvious organization to defend the interests of foreign workers to the extent they could be expected. The reasons for this are complex and due to conflicts of interests that arise from their intermediary position between employers, government a