Anti-gangmaster protocol signed

(ANSA) - Rome, May 27 - Three government ministers on Friday signed a protocol with Italy's southern regions to crack down on gangmasters and combat the exploitation of day laborers. Farm Minister Maurizio Martina, Labor Minister Giuliano Poletti, and Interior Minister Angelino Alfano signed the protocol backed by CGIL, CISL and UIL trade union federations, grassroots farm associations, and the regions of Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Puglia and Sicily in the south, as well as Piedmont in the north.
    The new protocol calls for coordination between local police, labor inspectors, and other officials to root out and punish exploiters, protect vulnerable day laborers, and promote lawful and ethical workplace practices.
    "As of today we're fighting the gangmasters even harder - we have decided to carry on a specific, targeted battle," said Alfano.
    Italy has seen a string of labor code violations in its fields and vineyards, with unscrupulous employers recruiting recent immigrants for starvation wages.
    Earlier this month, prosecutors in the Tuscan city of Prato said 12 suspects are under investigation for racketeering with intent to exploit undocumented foreign workers in the vineyards of Chianti, which is famous all over the world for its wine.
    They identified a Pakistani couple - named as Tarik Sikander and his wife - who recruited new arrivals from Pakistan and sub-Saharan Africa and brokered them out to five Chianti wine producers - who thought they were paying the workers union rates - and pocketed the difference. Investigators say they documented the refugees being beaten and made to work in flip-flops in winter.