After the death of Satnam Singh, the laborer from the Agro Pontino who died following injuries sustained in an accident at work, the Meloni government announces the fight against gangmastering, as part of a meeting held at the Ministry of Labor in the presence of Minister Marina Calderone and her colleague from Agriculture, Francesco Lollobrigida, together with trade union and employer representatives. “Everyone’s aim is to declare war on gangmastering and intensify actions against a system that degrades work – he explained Minister Calderone,at the end of the meeting -, puts human lives at risk and certainly does not allow a strategic sector such as agriculture to grow”. For his part, Minister Lollobrigida commented: “One of the things that emerged from the meeting is that in these situations something happens: the criminalization of one of the links in the supply chain. When a worker dies due to a criminal, agricultural businesses are criminalised. These deaths – he added – they depend on criminals, not on the agricultural business system.”
“As Brothers of Italy – recalled Maria Cristina Caretta, FdI deputy and vice-president of the Agriculture Commission at Montecitorio – we have always supported the need for an efficient and punctual control system. From the now constant comparison with the agricultural world, one clear fact emerges: the criminalization of the entire agricultural sector for specific facts is a mistake that should not be made. The death of the Indian laborer is an intolerable episode, which must lead us to do even more to increase the scope and strength of control activities. We cannot allow a few criminals to profit on the backs of honest workers, tarnishing the reputation of our agricultural businesses. Therefore, the initiative and the line carried out by ministers Calderone and Lollobrigida, who have been engaged in zero tolerance towards these acts since day one, are good.”
The opposition doesn’t agree and says no to the usual spot measures: “According to the Placido Rizzotto observatory of the CGIL, the phenomenon of exploitation in the Italian countryside concerns 230 thousand workers. Women and men who are exploited and underpaid – stated the M5s group leaders in the Labor and Agriculture commissions of the Chamber, Valentina Barzotti and Alessandro Caramiello – On average, in fact, the pay is 20 euros per day for 10/14 hours of work, i.e. 1.40/2 euros per hour of human rights in full force. After the tragic death of Satnam Singh, the government has decided to take action they don’t just serve to grab some newspaper headlines but are truly effective.”
“The government must clarify how to wage war on gangmasters, otherwise they are just words – insisted the director of Italia viva Teresa Bellanova -. And the only way is to put people in a position to work regularly. But it doesn’t seem like the government wants to do this. If there is no prevention, statements like this are only good for newspaper headlines. Now do we give Satnam Singh’s widow permission? After we exploited them and condemned them to illegality? If the State – added Bellanova – does not give the tools to not be invisible to people who come from another country to work, it is responsible. We can’t look the other way“.
“I believe that gangmastering is an unacceptable plague for our production system, which is why I put the fight against it at the center of my political initiative. As Minister of Justice, with the then Minister of Agriculture Martina, – he wrote on social media network the PD deputy, Andrea Orlando – I am honored to have passed the law which prosecutes this crime in an organic way for the first time, then also applied to other sectors in addition to agriculture. In the aftermath of the terrible death of the Indian laborer in the Latina countryside, we once again hear many words from those who, in government for almost two years now, have turned a blind eye to the phenomenon of gangmastering and undeclared work. Yet, those who promise new interventions today had some tools already available and resources with which to intervene. But they preferred to postpone or delay commitments made by the previous government in the direction of a clear contrast to gangmastering and greater dignity for tens of thousands of workers”.
On Saturday 22 June, in Latina (5pm) the CGIL will be in the square to remember Satnam Singh. The Democratic Party will be present with a delegation, led by the secretary Elly Schlein and composed of Marta Bonafoni, Annalisa Corrado, Alfredo D’Attorre, Michele Fina, Camilla Laureti, and Marco Sarracino for the secretariat. Andrea Casu, Paolo Ciani, Marianna Madia, Matteo Orfini, Lia Quartapelle and Arturo Scotto will be present for the deputies. For the senators Susanna Camusso, Cecilia D’Elia, Antonio Nicita and Filippo Sensi. Finally, the secretary of the regional Democratic Party Daniele Leodori and the group leader Mario Ciarla will be present with a delegation of regional councilors. In Latina Nicola Fratoianni will also be there of the Green Left Alliance: “We need facts, we need politics to intervene, contrary to what Meloni declared at the beginning of his mandate”, said the red-green exponent.
In the meantime, again by the CGIL, it was also launched a fundraiser to support the family. And on June 25th there will be a demonstration promoted by the Latina Indian community in memory of the deceased laborer. The Fai-Cisl and Uila-Uil immediately responded to next week’s demonstration by guaranteeing their participation. Also for Tuesday, a strike has been called, through which the unions declare they want to denounce the irregularity and exploitation inherent in the agricultural sector.
This morning the mayor of Latina,Matilde Celentano visited Soni, the young wife of Satnam Singh. “The first citizen – we read in a note – wanted to represent the closeness of the municipal administration and the entire citizenry to the girl, offering her all the possible support from the Municipality”. “It was a meeting I will never forget – Mayor Celentano reported -: the heartbreak of a young woman shocked by the pain of the serious loss, made even more tragic by the cruelty of the facts, pained me deeply, just as I believe it can pain the whole community. I felt the need to make this visit to ask Sami in person what she needed most from her in this dramatic moment and she expressed the desire to have her mother, who lives in India, next to her. I have taken charge of the request and I will move with the competent institutions to allow her to have her family close to her.” Mayor Celentano, accompanied by the Carabinieri of the Borgo Podgora station and by local police officers, reached Sami in a distant house from the site of the tragedy. “The social services of the Municipality were activated for the young woman – continued Mayor Celentano – Through the social emergency intervention, psychological assistance was also requested from the local health authority for the mourning process” .
Not only that, but the Police Commissioner of Latina, having obtained the positive opinion of the prosecutor who investigated the laborer’s employer for manslaughter, issued the widow a residence permit for reasons of “special protection”, pursuant to article 18 of the Consolidated Law on Immigration.