流动劳工(migrant labor)

从一个地区迁徙到另一个地区提供劳力的无特殊技能的工人，以从事暂时性的工作（通常是季节性的）为主。在北美洲，流动劳工常受雇於农业，并按照收获的季节进行南北迁移。在欧洲和中东地区，流动劳工则常常在都市而非农业劳动力，并因此要求较长时间的固定居住环境。流动劳工的劳动力市场通常很混乱，剥削也很严重。许多工人都是在包工头的指示下被组织起来劳动并发放工资。劳工们的工时通常很长，工资低廉，工作条件也很恶劣，居住环境也很糟。在一些国家（尤其是印度），童工也常见於流动劳工中，甚至在美国也不罕见，这些儿童即使不做工往往也得不到教育，因为学校的大门只对当地居民的孩子开放。工人们常常愿意在条件更加艰苦的国内市场寻求工作。尽管在美国已建立一些流动劳工联合会，但劳动力的组织仍因流动性高、文盲多以及不积极参与政治而变得很艰难。亦请参阅Chavez, Cesar (Estrada)。

English version：

migrant labor

Unskilled workers who move from one region to another offering their services on a temporary, usually seasonal, basis. In North America, migrant labor is generally employed in agriculture, and moves seasonally from south to north following the harvest. In Europe and the Middle East, migrant labor usually involves urban rather than agricultural employment and calls for longer periods of residence. The migrant labor market is often disorganized and exploitative. Many workers are supervised by middlemen such as labor contractors and crew leaders, who recruit and transport them and dispense their pay. Laborers frequently endure long hours, low wages, poor working conditions, and substandard housing. In some countries, notably India, child labor is widespread among migrant laborers, and even in the U.S. those children who do not work often do not go to school, since schools are usually open only to local residents. Workers willing to accept employment on these terms are driven by even worse conditions in their home countries. Labor organizing is made difficult by mobility and by low rates of literacy and political participation, though some migrant laborers in the U.S. have been unionized. See also Cesar Chavez.