An Italian Winemaker Speaks Out About Migrant Workers Exploited In The Vineyards

-Essay-

TURIN — Reality can hit you when you least expect it, leaving you speechless. It so happens that in the scenic Langhe hills — part of the Vineyard Landscape of Piedmont UNESCO World Heritage site, where every day tourists travel the winding roads to find the perfect spot to sip a glass of world-renowned Barolo wine — Italian authorities have revealed a phenomenon of shocking cruelty.

On July 10, the police detained three people in the area for unlawful intermediation, exploitation of labor and violations of the rules on the stay of foreigners in the national territory. It was the result of an investigation by the local prefecture on the exploitation of employees, most of them migrants, in the Langhe vineyards. Workers were allegedly paid a maximum of 5 euros an hour, worked up to 16 hours a day and had to pay rent to live in what the authorities called “degraded conditions.”

We should no longer be reading stories of arrests for mistreatment at work and of poorly paid workers housed in degraded conditions. And yet it still happens, and now those who acted in this deplorable way will have to answer for it. This time, the story was accompanied by a video that quickly went viral.

The video shows multiple employers violently beating — in one case, with an iron rod — workers who protest their employment and living conditions. The phenomenon falls within a broader scheme known in Italy as caporalato, which sees underpaid migrants being exploited and mistreated by a “master” — known in Italian as caporale. The caporalato system has been under scrutiny in the peninsula for the past weeks, following the gruesome death of an Indian worker under this system.

Hard work

For the past week, acquaintances have been calling and asking me: “How is this possible? Does that really happen?” They were rightly dismayed by the content of the viral videos.

As someone who was born and raised in Langhe, I was outraged. There is an urgent need for reflection on how we operate in our vineyards. We all know that agriculture is hard work, made of waking up at dawn to work in excessively high temperatures in the summer and with chapped hands in the cold winter. We also know that no one wants to be a farmer anymore. But vineyards never stop; they don’t take breaks, and they need constant care.

We can’t ignore that a large part of those who work in our vineyards come from abroad, and it is thanks to them that we can sip good wine during our meals. They are the custodians of the endless rows of vines that paint our hills, maneuvering tractors, picking grapes to produce wines that have won international acclaim in just a few decades.

Those who dedicate themselves to their work feel only gratitude for the employees who support them.

We’ve been living side to side with these people for decades. They’re rooted here with their families, they bring their kids to school or to play football with our kids, they learn our language and they take care of our vineyards as well as — and maybe even better than — the most beautiful gardens.

For generations, people here have worked tenaciously to produce the wines and foods that today the world envies us for. We have studied, we have prepared, we have adapted and improved production techniques, we have consulted with scholars to obtain from this land the best grapes, and we have traveled, a lot, to recount the uniqueness of our traditions, all with great care, knowing that thanks to our products we could overcome the looming malaise that characterized the days of our grandparents.

Human dignity

When I was young, my father never rested on weekends. He was always busy dealing with clients or traveling to talk about our territory. The same went for my uncle, who stayed in the vineyards to guide our staff. Dozens of other people my age who are children of wine producers would use the same words to describe the work of their parents, dedicated to creating what makes the Langhe so beloved today. That is why it pains me to read of men with no morals whose actions raise doubts about everyone’s behavior in our territory.

Those who dedicate themselves to their work feel only gratitude for the employees who support them, and hurting these workers would not even cross their minds. Instead, ensuring their wellbeing is a priority.

What happened is extremely serious because violence is never justified and because of the lack of respect for those working. Such practices also show no regard for human dignity. The articles written on the event surely have warmed spirits and shed light on a reality that, fortunately, is only marginal among Italian wine producers.

A beautiful word

Even so, some basic habits can prevent these situations from happening. I find it ridiculous that we need to list them, because they are basic rules of common sense.

“Rispetto”, meaning respect.

A common practice among producers is to collaborate with cooperatives. For example, my family and their 80 employees work alongside three of these professionals, who are as committed as we are to working seriously. Of course, you have to know the people you involve in your winery, you have to follow them and guide them, check that documents, etc. are up to standard, that the working hours are respectful, the pay adequate. This seems to me the most natural action that a good human being can practice toward another fellow human being.

There’s a beautiful word that we too often underestimate and that we should dust off and use more often in our daily lives: rispetto, meaning respect. Respect not only for our vineyards, but also for those taking care of them every day.