Workers, mostly Indian, building US consulate in Milan agree to record settlement

Foreign workers building the vast new US consulate compound in Milan signed agreements at a Milan hotel Wednesday securing payouts averaging €45,000 (US$50,400) each for alleged labour abuses while working for an American construction company.

More than 60 labourers, mostly from India, signed the deals Wednesday to receive their share of a €31 million (nearly US$35 million) settlement agreed last month with Alabama-based Caddell Construction. The signings began Tuesday.

Prosecutors say it is the largest settlement ever for labour exploitation in Europe.

Each worker signed a document seen by Associated Press agreeing not to discredit Caddell and not to disclose the individual payments. Caddell said in the document that the settlement was not an admission of liability. Individual payments are to be made within 30 days of the signing.

The workers saw the potentially life-changing sum in black-and-white for the first time at the signings - with the highest reaching nearly €90,000 (nearly US$101,000), said Francesco Brigatti, the court-appointed administrator working to return the consulate construction site to legality.

The payouts combine unpaid overtime, reimbursement for housing illegally deducted from their pay and hefty damages personally sought by investigating Prosecutor Paolo Storari, Brigatti said.

“The damages component alone amounts to 60–70 per cent of the overtime total,” Brigatti said, well above the 10 per cent to 30 per cent that he said is more customary in such cases.

Dilip Ram, a 43-year-old mason from India, has worked at the Milan consulate site for more than two years. He said the money would go a long way to helping his family of five back home in the Indian state of Bihar.

“Things are better now than before … we get more rest now,” Ram said, after signing the deal. “This has led to a lot of change. This settlement will be good. Because the workers had troubles, that’s why this settlement has been applied.”

Over two days, 115 workers signed the deals, with the procedure continuing next week.

Prosecutors say workers were paid less than US$2 an hour, were illegally docked money for housing and denied overtime for working up to 10 hours a day, six days a week. They also were allegedly subjected to threats and not given proper medical care when they were injured on the job. Most of the workers were from India, but also Nigeria, Kenya and Bangladesh.

Workers from India reported having to pay €5,000 (US$5,600) to recruiters to get the jobs, but the settlement did not directly address abuses in India, where prosecutors could not investigate, officials said.

The investigation against Caddell remains open, pending the payouts, which are expected to be completed by February. Two managers under investigation for extortion and facilitating illegal immigration remain under house arrest.

Caddell’s settlement includes about €11.2 million (US$12.5 million) for Italy’s social security coffers and workplace injury insurance. Under the deal, the workers are also getting permits to work in Italy even off the Caddell site.

Caddell, a major contractor for US embassies and consulates worldwide, said in June that it was cooperating fully with Italian authorities, reviewing its global subcontractors and consultancies for compliance with labour laws, and working with authorities to protect workers on the project.

“Caddell continues to cooperate in good faith with the appropriate authorities throughout this process, and we remain focused on the care and well-being of the people working on an important project,” the company said Wednesday.

The US State Department has said it is investigating the allegations made by prosecutors and that US law enforcement is working with Italian authorities. Last week, it added that it is following the case closely.

“The US government has zero tolerance for illegal activity,” it said.

In all, nearly 480 workers can expect payouts - some 300 still working on the site, another 100 elsewhere in Italy and the rest in their home countries.