Viterbo – Massimiliano Venanzi (Flai Cgil), Sara De Luca (Fai Cisl), Antonio Biagioli (Uila Uil) at the demonstration organized by the Anti-Trafficking Network for the death of the farm worker Satnam Singh
by Daniele Camilli
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| Demonstration organized by the Anti-Trafficking Network for the death of the farm worker Satnam Singh Demonstration organized by the Anti-Trafficking Network for the death of the laborer Satnam Singh Demonstration organized by the Anti-Trafficking Network for the death of the farm worker Satnam Singh Manjit Singh Anthony Biagioli Sergio Giovagnoli Cola Christmas Enrico Mezzetti Elisa Durantini Elisa Bianchini Chiara De Carolis |
Viterbo – Deaths at work, a civil war is underway and we are the fighters.” The general secretaries of Flai Cgil, Fai Cisl and Uila Uil, respectively Massimiliano Venanzi, Sara De Luca and Antonio Biagioli.
Yesterday afternoon in Piazza della Repubblica in Viterbo, a demonstration organized by the Anti-Trafficking Network following the death of Satnam Singh, the 31-year-old Indian who died following an accident at work in the fields of Latina. Satnam got his arm stuck in the plastic wrapping machine which amputated his right limb.
“We live in a country where there is a civil war and we are the fighters – says Antonio Biagioli on behalf of all the agricultural workers’ unions -, three deaths a day. It’s a very heavy thing. People are dying everywhere. There are those who think that agricultural workers are pack workers. In this country there are those who live on the backs of the people, agricultural workers, blackmailed workers, workers who have the right to have a life.
Over one hundred people in the square, many of them agricultural workers from the area. With them there are also the general secretaries of Viterbo of Cgil, Cisl and Uil, namely Stefania Pomante, Elisa Durantini and Giancarlo Turchetti. Then there are the general secretary of the Cgil Lazio Natale Di Cola, the coordinator of the Anti-Trafficking Network Sergio Giovagnoli, the councilor for urban planning Emanuele Aronne, the city councilors Paolo Moricoli, Alessandra Troncarelli and Lina Delle Monache, the provincial secretary of the Pd Emanuela Benedetti, the secretary of the Young Democrats Francesco Boscheri, the president of Anpi Enrico Mezzetti, Marta Nori of the Kyanos association and the Penelope anti-violence center, Sandra Gasbarri of Arci, Virginia Migliore of Arcigay, the provincial coordinator of the 5 Star Movement Massimo Erbetti, Chiara De Carolis of the House of Social Rights, the representative of the Sikh community Manjit Singh, Elisa Bianchini of Cobas, Ada Tomasello of the Peace Table and Piero Arcangeli of Rifondazione Comunista.
“Work kills you,” Giovagnoli emphasizes, “it’s a daily bulletin. Labor exploitation is an endemic phenomenon, even in Tuscia. More determination is needed from the institutions. The agricultural roundtable of the prefecture will be convened in a few days. An important moment of discussion between employers’ organizations, unions and associations.”
“Satnam – continues Di Cola – died because someone killed him. Satnam died and became a symbol. And it is not an isolated case, we are talking about people who are exploited and abandoned. In the region, together with CISL and UIL, we have asked that a residence permit be granted to exploited workers who report it and that companies such as those where Satnam worked be closed”.
According to the reconstructions circulating, Satnam Singh, after the accident, would have been loaded and unloaded from a van, in front of his home, while Singh’s arm, severed by the machinery, would have been delivered in a vegetable collection box. And only from that moment was it possible for the family to call for help. The Latina prosecutor’s office has hypothesized for the moment the crimes of failure to provide assistance and manslaughter, while the owner of the company is under investigation.
“Anger, pain and bewilderment – adds Durantini – the emotions that are perceived. A cry of pain against deaths and accidents at work. In 2023 Tuscia was black jersey together with Rieti for deaths and injuries at work”.
“Satnam – continues Bianchini – is killed every day, on average three times a day. Satnam was killed by an economic and productive system that allowed that master to exist”.
“Satnam – highlights Manjit Singh – worked and sweated, and in the end he also sweated blood. All illegal immigrants must be regularized.”
“We must all feel responsible for the exploitation of workers – explains De Carolis -. Every day we tolerate all these people being blackmailed. And it is difficult to rebel when you experience the working and social conditions of a labourer. We must return to the class struggle and feel first and foremost a social class distinct from the others.”
“We must fight to change the citizenship law,” concludes Mezzetti. “The ius sanguinis is a racist principle.”
Daniele Camilli
June 29, 2024
