Sardinia, gangmastering alert: "Nearly 1,400 undocumented workers discovered in one year."
The UIL (Italian Labour Union) comments on the latest Guardia di Finanza data: "The exploitation of workers and laborers, especially agricultural workers, poses a concrete threat to the island as well."
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"Gangmastering and labor exploitation also pose a real threat to Sardinia."
The complaint comes from the general secretary of UIL Sardinia Fulvia Murru , and the general secretary of UILA Sardinia Gaia Garau , commenting on the data released yesterday by the Guardia di Finanza on the phenomenon of undeclared work, which highlighted how during the activity of the Fiamme Gialle over the last twelve months on the island a total of 1362 undeclared or irregular workers have been discovered.
"To think that this is a phenomenon far removed from our reality," Murru and Garau state, "would be a grave mistake. This is precisely why it's crucial to maintain high levels of vigilance, especially in the agricultural and seasonal sectors, where the risk of undeclared, underpaid, and unprotected work is highest."
"These data are alarming," Uil Sardegna and Uila Sardegna emphasize, "and should give pause for thought. Certainly, among the irregular workers identified are those employed in agriculture. According to national data, in the agricultural sector, more than half of the companies inspected by the Labor Inspectorate are found to be irregular, and the phenomenon of exploitation continues to affect thousands of workers."
According to the VI Report on Labor Exploitation and Gangmastering, agriculture remains the most affected sector, with 38% of cases detected in 2024.
"Sardinia has taken an important step by establishing the Regional Observatory on Labor Exploitation," Murru and Garau continue, "but now we need to translate this monitoring into concrete action."
Uila and Uil Sardegna emphasize the solutions needed to combat this phenomenon, including: strengthening controls in the countryside during harvest periods and peak seasonal activity; cross-referencing the databases of INPS, INAIL, the Labor Inspectorate, and the Region to identify suspicious situations; ensuring full enforcement of collective bargaining agreements and combating undocumented work and false part-time work; making the entire agri-food supply chain transparent, so that buyers can be sure that the product was produced with respect for workers' rights; and rewarding farms that invest in quality work and legality.
"Gangmastering," the union concludes, "doesn't just harm exploited workers. It harms honest businesses, distorts competition, and damages the very image of Sardinian agriculture , which is overwhelmingly built by entrepreneurs and workers who respect the rules."
(Unioneonline/lf)
