The relationship to the employer in migrant’s eyes: the domestic work Ukrainian migrant women in Warsaw

Abstract

This article analyses the experiences of Ukrainian migrant women in their working relationship with Polish employers. These experiences and the resulting practices are related, most notably: to the working conditions; the space in which the work is performed - a private household; and a significant power asymmetry between the Polish employer and the Ukrainian migrant. Based on 20 in-depth interviews conducted with Ukrainian women between 2005 and 2006 in Warsaw and its suburbs, this analysis attempts to reconstruct their experience as migrant domestic workers and their possibility to develop agency.