Dear Josephine Julian, the accounts do not add up. You are right. Let’s not talk about the 400 euros a month to travel on thehigh speed (on social networks the calculations between the offers of the various operators multiplied with the working days of the janitor they can’t get that figure) but the absurd costs of those who have to live in the city. The story, published in the pages of the “Giorno”, is this: Giuseppina Giuliano is a school operator at the Boccioni art school in Milan. And he commutes. Not from Cinisello Balsamo or Lecco but from Naples. In fact, she finds it more convenient to commute every day than to take up residence in the city where she works and where a bed in a double room can cost 600 euros a month.
The end of Smart Working, the return to commuting
The story attracted the attention of the media but also of the thousands of commuters who, after the end of the Smart Working which had led Italy to take a step forward into the future, underlined the difficulties of living in the city with average salaries that our country offers. Low wages, high rents. Old film paused by the pandemic but which today returns to the screens of workers’ bank accounts.
The day of the janitor commuter between Naples and Milan
Giuseppina Giuliano explained that she gets up at 4 every morning, goes to the station to take the five o’clock Frecciarossa to arrive punctually at 10.30 at school where she stays until 5 pm and then takes the train back an hour later and arrives just before 11 pm again in Naples. Taking up her role in September, «I tried to find a house that didn’t cost too much, considering that my monthly salary is 1,165 euros» she said but «I realized that now in Milan it’s easier to find a needle in a haystack ». In Naples Giuseppina, who is 29 years old, lives with her parents, her grandmother and her dogs. “This allows me not to have additional expenses other than those of the train and for this – she added – I consider myself very lucky”. And she also manages to save a little.
Giuseppina Giuliano, every day from Naples to Milan for janitor work. “Taking a house would cost me too much”
The cost of the train ticket
By accumulating points with the journeys he makes and by purchasing tickets well in advance, «ultimately the train costs me little, around 400 euros, much less per month than a shared room in Milan». “Everyone at school is helping me and this fills me with joy because I don’t feel abandoned. But I must say that I am also a little demoralized for not having yet managed to find comfortable accommodation at an acceptable price. But right now that I’ve become tenured – she concluded – I absolutely cannot miss the opportunity of this job. So, until I find something suitable for my possibilities, I will continue like this».
Frecciarossa and Italo Treno offers
Of course, 400 euros is very little for a journey of 1,600 kilometers a day. In fact, a season ticket on Frecciarossa costs about a thousand euros a month, and it is true that by purchasing single tickets well in advance, taking advantage of promotions and using the points to purchase other tickets, you save, but not that much. The same goes for Italo, a company that has competitive prices but which, following the offers, would hardly be able to respect such a limited budget
Commuter lives, companies need to reflect
«In Milan it’s not you who chooses the rent but the rent that chooses you» they say on Caterpillar, a Radio 2 program which tackled the issue of commuting. Even Rome has its stories that tell how current the increasingly high cost of apartments in the two most important cities of Italy and in the hinterland is. Too many are unable to afford certain rents and, to this, must also be added the cost of fuel. This is why the choices of some companies, such as Intesa San Paolo, which have understood how much performance in financial statements is directly proportional to the health (and happiness) of the worker, must make us reflect.
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