Abstract copyright UK Data Service and data collection copyright owner. This research project, conducted jointly by the Centre on Migration, Policy and Society (COMPAS) at the University of Oxford, and the Trades Union Congress (TUC), surveyed Polish and Lithuanian nationals working in the UK who had requested TUC leaflets on employment rights and the role of trades unions. The survey explored the kinds of difficulties experienced by Polish and Lithuanian workers in the UK labour market, and their potential for joining trades unions. More specifically, it addressed:who is a member of or wants to join a trades union and why?what are the obstacles to joining a trades union?where are prospective union members working?what are the kinds of difficulties that Polish and Lithuanian workers in the UK face in their employment relations and conditions?Further information about the project may be found in the documentation, and more generally, on the Compas Labour Markets web page. Purposive selection/case studies Volunteer sample Questionnaire sent to Workers Registration Scheme participants who had requested TUC leaflet Postal survey Self-completion

In 2019, there were approximately 302,020 British citizens living in Spain, with a further 293,061 in Ireland and 176,672 in France. By comparison, there were only 604 British people living in Slovenia, the fewest of any European Union member state. As a member of the European Union, British citizens had the right to live and work in any EU member state. Although these rights were lost for most British citizens after the UK left the EU in 2020, Britons already living in EU states were able to largely retain their previous rights of residence. EU citizens living in the UK EU citizens living in the UK face the same dilemma that British nationals did regarding their legal status after Brexit. In the same year, there were 902,000 Polish citizens, 404,000 Romanians, and 322,000 people from the Republic of Ireland living in the UK in that year, along with almost 2 million EU citizens from the other 24 EU member states. To retain their rights after Brexit, EU citizens living in the UK were able to apply for the EU settlement scheme. As of March 2024, there have been around 7.9 million applications to this scheme, with Romanian and Polish nationals the most common nationality at 1.71 million applications, and 1.23 million applications respectively. Is support for Brexit waning in 2024? As of May 2024, the share of people in the UK who think leaving the EU was the wrong decision stood at 55 percent, compared with 31 percent who think it was the correct choice. In general, support for Brexit has gradually eroded since April 2021, when 46 percent of people supported Brexit, compared with 43 percent who regretted it. What people think Britain's relationship with the EU should be is, however, still unclear. A survey from November 2023 indicated that just 31 percent thought the UK should rejoin the EU, with a further 11 percent supporting rejoining the single market, but not the EU. Only ten percent of respondents were satisfied with the current relationship, while nine percent wished to reduce ties even further.