A Piazza della Libertà once again full after Saturday’s event organized by Flai Cgil: today the Indian community together with Cisl and Uil. But there is no shortage of tensions
A people, the Indian one, who gathered and took part in the procession which started today, June 25th, from the Latina bus lines. The Indian Community of Lazio association has arranged everything for Satnam Singh, the thirty-one-year-old laborer abandoned in front of his house by his employer – the suspect for manslaughter and negligence Antonello Lovato – after losing his right arm in an accident which occurred in the agricultural company of Borgo Santa Maria.
A historic page for the Pontine Indian community who came together to claim their rights: “We produce wealth for the country, we must be protected and travel together with the Italians”, this is one of the messages launched from the stage set up in Piazza della Libertà in front to the Prefecture of Latina. Over two thousand people participated, many of them Indian nationals: a cry of pain that asked for dignity from a country that often hosts them like ghosts, not regularized, illegally, with the complicity of some of their compatriots who turn into corporals and several Italian entrepreneurs who exploit low-cost labor, treating workers like animals, so much so that they live in hovels on starvation wages. This is the picture and everyone knows it, both in the province of Latina and now that the Pontine capital is the subject of media attention from the major mainstream channels of the Bel Paese.
At the event, speeches were held by representatives of the Indian community and trade unions. The unions Fai Cisl, Uila-Uil, Usb were present, as well as dozens of members of the Indian community who arrived from all over Lazio (Latina, Aprilia, Cisterna, Sabaudia and Terracina) and beyond. Also present was the mayor of Latina, Matilde Celentano, who, after having suffered several boos in the twin and rival demonstration of the other large confederal unionCGIL, received approval today.
“I greet the Indian communities present at this great demonstration against gangmastering and exploitation in agriculture which I strongly wanted to support, together with the councillors, the city councilors, and the numerous citizens present in this square. I thank the president of the Province, the mayors of the area and their municipal administrations, who participate with conviction and determination. Just as I thank the trade union organizations, in particular the Fai-Cisl and the UilA, who joined this mobilization, alongside the Indian Community of Lazio.
The death of Satnam Singh has profoundly affected our entire community, because human rights have been violated with acts of cruelty and workplace safety regulations have been violated. Gangmastering is a form of slavery that is not part of our culture, which does not belong to our city and our nation. We intend in every possible way to prevent there being another Satnam tomorrow. But also another young woman like Soni, devastated by the pain and the atrocities suffered by her husband. I will never forget her blank stare. A tragedy that struck her that cannot leave us indifferent. A young woman deprived of her dearest affection, far from her family. For this reason I was immediately interested in ensuring that she was followed up immediately by social services, also requesting psychological support from the local health authority.
Soni expressed to me the desire to want her parents by her side in this painful moment and I made a commitment with her, namely that I would personally take action to have her mother and father come here from India. For this reason, yesterday morning, I contacted the Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani and the Farnesina to verify whether the conditions existed to facilitate the girl’s parents’ entry into Italy. The good news has arrived: the Farnesina has taken steps to issue visas for Soni’s mother and sister for whom a meeting is scheduled at the diplomatic headquarters in New Delhi to organize the trip. At the same time I was interested in ensuring that the young woman had legal protection in our country, which is necessary so that no one can take advantage of her fragility in this particular moment. The president of the Latina Bar Association, the lawyer Giovanni Lauretti, who I contacted, made himself available to provide you with the legal assistance you need.
As regards the announced city mourning: I confirm that it will take place. We are waiting to understand how the funeral rite will take place and the related timing in order to intervene with a specific ordinance that will interpret the sentiment of the entire city. Satnam’s death touched all of us and what we can and must do to ensure this never happens again is teamwork that must not have a political color. The Municipality of Latina has set a good example, unanimously approving an agenda aimed at promoting the establishment of a civil party in the future trial against the entrepreneur currently under investigation. We reserve the right, if the conditions exist, to become a civil party – as a Municipality – also in other legal proceedings for gangmastering. Against gangmastering and also against deaths at work – in this province there were three victims in one week – we need an institutional network, a synergy between associations and unions. Only in this way can we break down the wall of illegality, which does not represent all companies but which fuels a sick economy and which finds fertile ground in the desperation of those who come from far away and who end up prey to exploitation.
Today we are all here, to make proposals and to listen. The mobilization against gangmastering and for workplace safety must follow the principle of participation, proving that political barriers are useless. I also turn to the trade union organizations that have been assisting immigrant workers for years: our door is always open. Defeating the gangmaster is a war of civilizations. And the wars of civilization must be won by all united, because no one can do it alone.”
But in the union square, which demonstrated how they manage to divide even in the face of a tragedy like that of Satnam Singh, there was no shortage of testimonies that would make the veins tremble. Above all, that of a witness to the Satnam accident: “We asked Lovato to call for help, but he said that he was dead. I heard the screams of the employer and Satnam: I ran and saw him stuck under the machinery without an arm. We all asked the employer to call for help but there was no way, because he said that he was dead. There was nothing left to do.” This witness worked for the Lovatos without a contract, irregularly, like Satnam and his wife Soni.
And there was no shortage of internal controversy at the event either. The USB union, together with Potere al Popolo, Cambiare Rotta and OSA, left the square in protest at the same time as the speeches of the CISL and UIL secretaries: “We came because the Indian community called everyone to this demonstration. Now we are leaving because the things we hear from the secretaries of the unions, who among other things we know are complicit with the employers’ organizations, are unlistenable”.
What is annoying is “the invitation to Indian workers to learn Italian. Here we need to teach our politicians to respect rules that guarantee the rights of all. Their complicity today is disgusting.”
