Workers who built US consulate in Milan sign record €31m settlement deals over alleged labor abuses

Mixed · 2Foreign workers building the new US consulate compound in Milan signed agreements at a Milan hotel on Wednesday 7 October, securing payouts averaging €45,000 ($50,400) each for alleged labor abuses while working for an American construction company. 1 2 Mixed · 2The payouts come from a €31 million (nearly $35 million) settlement agreed last month with Alabama-based Caddell Construction, which prosecutors say is the largest settlement ever for labor exploitation in Europe. 1 2 Mixed · 2The signings began Tuesday; 115 workers had signed over two days, with the process continuing the following week. In all, nearly 480 workers can expect payouts: about 300 still on the site, another 100 elsewhere in Italy and the rest in their home countries. 1 2

Mixed · 2The highest individual payout is nearly €90,000 (about $101,000), according to Francesco Brigatti, the court-appointed administrator working to return the site to legality. Payouts combine unpaid overtime, reimbursement of housing money illegally deducted from pay, and damages sought by investigating Prosecutor Paolo Storari; Brigatti said the damages alone equal 60–70 percent of the overtime total, well above the 10–30 percent he called customary. 1 2 Mixed · 2Each worker signed a document, seen by the Associated Press, agreeing not to discredit Caddell or disclose individual payments, while Caddell stated that the settlement was not an admission of liability. Payments are due within 30 days of signing, and the settlement also gives workers permits to work in Italy beyond the Caddell site. 1 2 Mixed · 2Prosecutors allege workers were paid less than $2 an hour, illegally docked money for housing, and denied overtime for working up to 10 hours a day, six days a week, as well as threatened and denied proper medical care after injuries. Most came from India, with others from Nigeria, Kenya and Bangladesh; Indian workers reported paying recruiters €5,000 ($5,600), but the settlement does not directly address abuses in India, where prosecutors could not investigate. 1 2

Mixed · 2The investigation against Caddell remains open pending the payouts, expected to be completed by February, and two managers under investigation for extortion and facilitating illegal immigration remain under house arrest. The settlement also includes about €11.2 million ($12.5 million) for Italy's social security and workplace injury insurance. 1 2 Centre · 1Caddell, a major contractor for US embassies and consulates, said it continues to cooperate in good faith with authorities and is focused on the well-being of people on the project. The US State Department said it is investigating the prosecutors' allegations, is working with Italian law enforcement and has “zero tolerance for illegal activity”. 2 Right · 1Dilip Ram, a 43-year-old mason from Bihar, India, said the money would greatly help his family of five and that conditions had improved. Trifone Radogna of the Feneal Uil construction union said unions were initially denied access to the site on an erroneous claim of diplomatic status, and that his union had never encountered a labor-exploitation system on this scale. 1