substantiation of the claim that controls on migration strengthen the bargaining power of workers viz capital would be nice as well.
Angela _________
For a given number of jobs, more available labor makes for a looser labor market -- workers chasing employers, rather than the converse.
The ability of a union to pressure management for better pay etc. depends in part on the tightness of the labor market. Restrictions on alternative labor, whether from scabs or immigrants, helps unions.
Longer term, economies usually adjust to population increases with more job creation, since new population are consumers as well as workers and create effective demand.
Control of migration could be exercised at the behest of employers or workers. If the working class abstains from immigration regulation politics, or if it simply stands for no controls, it cedes the ground to capital. Immigration will be controlled for the sake of capital. A progressive immigration policy would a) oppose any race/ethnic discrimination; and b) seek to regulate in-migration to maintain labor market tightness.
Get my drift? I still think it's obvious.
If you want references to empirical studies you'll have to get them elsewhere. Ain't got time. Any evidence to the contrary would be welcome.
mbs