Some Lithuanian trade unions are opposing President Gitanas Nausėda’s proposals to tighten restrictions on the employment of foreign workers, saying the measures could encourage migrants to disregard local rules and increase the number of unskilled workers, LNK news reported Thursday.
Nausėda has proposed a new system under which economic migrants would be allowed to work in Lithuania for a limited period and would then have to leave the country for at least six months. The president says the measure would help prevent family reunification and a faster increase in the migrant population.
Audrius Cuzanauskas, head of the Lithuanian Trade Union Alliance, said requiring workers to leave the country periodically would make their employment less stable and could undermine efforts to ensure they meet labour requirements.
“Two months are spent training these workers so they can do the job and at least meet the minimum requirements, even though supposedly skilled workers are being brought in,” Cuzanauskas said. “We already see that they are being brought in with quite a few violations, so it will be even worse then.”
Nausėda’s adviser Evelina Gudzinskaitė defended the proposal, arguing that many foreign workers coming to Lithuania do not learn the Lithuanian language, pursue careers or seek to integrate into local culture.
