Caporalato, Mattarella: tolerance of labour exploitation is unacceptable. Schlein in the square in Latina: abolish Bossi-Fini

"All institutions and all politics must take a step forward against this scourge, because Satnam Singh is unfortunately not an isolated case. There is a structural system of exploitation and caporalato that must be fought". This was stated by PD secretary Elly Schlein on the sidelines of the demonstration in Latina against caporalato. 'In the coming days we will present our proposal to abolish the Bossi-Fini and rewrite it in its entirety, because it is a law that causes irregularities. And irregularity, as this tragedy and murder teach us, causes precariousness, exploitation and blackmail on the skin of people like Satnam Singh'.

A demonstration was held in Piazza della Libertà, in the centre of Latina, for Satnam Singh, the 31-year-old Indian labourer who died after being abandoned in front of his house by the owner of the farm in which he had lost his right arm in a work accident shortly before, amputated by a plastic-wrapping machine and left in a vegetable box with the 31-year-old in front of his house, instead of alerting the emergency services. At the demonstration, organised by the Flai CGIL of Rome and Latium, the Chamber of Labour of Frosinone and Latina and the Flai CGIL of Frosinone and Latina, in addition to various trade unionists and local and national politicians, many foreign workers and farm labourers, mostly from India, took to the streets against the 'caporalato' (forced labour) after what happened to their compatriot.

Pd secretary Elly Schlein and Si secretary and Avs deputy Nicola Fratoianni, in the middle of the square, one next to the other, attended the rallies taking place in Latina in the demonstration against caporalato. The small stage is set up in front of the prefecture, where flags of CGIL, Libera, Anpi, Pd, and Avs are waving. In addition to Avs and Pd, there are delegations from Iv, with Gerardo Stefanelli, president of the province of Latina, from Azione, with Alessio D'Amato, from the party secretariat, and from M5s, with Adriano Zuccalà, group leader in the region.

The Head of State also addressed the issue of illegal labour exploitation and the death of Satnam Singh. Sergio Mattarella, in Solferino on the occasion of the 160th anniversary of the Red Cross, spoke of 'a phenomenon that, with rigour and firmness, must be opposed everywhere, totally eliminated and sanctioned, avoiding giving the erroneous and unacceptable impression that it is tolerated by ignoring it'. And he added that against the values of solidarity and civilisation, 'episodes and behaviour such as the one recorded three days ago, when a young immigrant worker, Satnam Singh, died, having been refused help and assistance, after yet another tragic accident at work, are jarringly serious and unrelated. A form of work that manifests itself with inhuman characteristics and that is part of a phenomenon - that surfaces not infrequently - of labour exploitation of the weakest and defenceless, with illegal and cruel methods and conditions".

"Thank you to the city council who are all here today, majority and opposition. I would have preferred a different occasion, but the difficulty of the moment forces us to meet now'. These are the words of the mayor of Latina, Matilde Celentano from the stage in Piazza della Libertà, where she took part in the demonstration for Satnam Singh. "If we want Satnam's to not be another death on the list of work accidents, we must have the courage to admit that we are all responsible for the odious phenomenon of 'caporalato', both the institutions and the citizens who prefer not to see,' added the first citizen. The licence of being the land of 'caporali' does not belong to us. We do not want to be pointed at for what we are not. This is a land of migrants, of people who have come in search of better conditions, as happens today with North Africans and Indians. The war against child labour is a war of civilisation to be fought all together. Latina will not shirk from engaging in this battle'.