On Monday, a group of around fifteen people from China attacked workers in front of a warehouse in Prato. This expedition is another punitive expedition organized in the last two years against strikes aimed at protesting the poor working conditions experienced by workers. Two Digos officers were also injured in the attack, kicked and punched.
The protest was held in front of Euroingro, a consortium that brings together several companies in the field of clothing accessories production. The workers, mostly Pakistanis, protested because they were forced to work 12 hours a day, 7 days a week and almost always on irregular contracts, completely illegal. After engaging grassroots unions to obtain better working conditions, several employees were fired.
The attack was captured on video recorded by striking workers. In the video, a group of around fifteen people can be seen coming out of the warehouse together to threaten the demonstrators. After several extremely tense moments, a Digos officer who intervened to try to restore calm was pushed to the ground. At that point the violence escalated: the attackers started kicking and punching workers, police and trade union members. The gazebo was destroyed.
Three people aged 27, 30 and 60 years were reported for resisting public officials and causing injuries. Prato police headquarters and the prosecutor’s office are analyzing videos recorded by protesters and videos coming from video surveillance systems in the area: other unidentified people may be reported on Monday.
In recent years, a gradual process of forming unions of workers, mostly foreigners, has begun in the Prato textile district. According to repeated complaints filed by the Sudd Cobas union, a grassroots union representing many exploited workers, in most companies run by Chinese nationals, they work more than 80 hours a week, 12 hours a day from Monday to Sunday, illegally and without protection or on part-time contracts that are not respected. Some were asked to pay back their thirteenth salary, there were also those who had never received a regular salary.
These controls have limited impact because companies close and reopen by changing names or using frontmen: this way they can avoid complaints and sanctions.
In recent years there have been several similar attacks, organized to put pressure on unions by intimidating them. In 2021, one of these attacks was captured in a widely circulated video: around ten people from China showed up at a protest with sticks to beat workers and union members. Since then there have been many other incidents of violence. One of the most recent incidents occurred in September, when a woman and a man chased, insulted and kicked and punched several workers at the Alba company, which sews and irons clothes on behalf of various fashion brands.
– Read also: Understanding Prato’s big problem
