Rome, 19 June – “Unfortunately, the news that we had hoped so much would not arrive has arrived: Satnam Singh, the young laborer abandoned on the street after a very serious injury while working in the fields in the Agro Pontino, did not make it.” Thus the confederal secretary of the CGIL, Maria Grazia Gabrielli.
“A fact of unprecedented brutality – continues the union leader – the result of the gangmaster system and the irregularity in which we relegate thousands of migrants who arrive in our country in search of hope. Slaves of contemporary society, irregular, without a residence permit, and therefore more susceptible to blackmail by those who consider work only a profit and rights, such as that of assistance, only obstacles”. “Exploitation in the fields – adds Gabrielli – very often translates into starvation wages, unsafe and inhuman working rhythms and conditions, psychological and physical violence which unfortunately also lead to terrible events like the one in Latina”.
For the confederal secretary: “Those who seek hope, dignity and different possibilities for their lives are not criminals, but those who exploit, enslave and deprive immigrants of their dignity. Let full light be shed on what happened and let those who were able to carry out such an inhumane act be punished.” “The CGIL – concludes Gabrielli – will continue to fight against gangmastering, to demand different migratory policies and choices so that immigrants are no longer invisible or a security problem, but people, workers with rights and protections, workers with dignity ”.
