***
✔✔✔Sri Lankan migrant workers speak out over worsening social conditions
M.S. D. Thisera, Dehin Wasantha✔✔✔
------ Post added on Sep 17, 2023 at 12:03 PM
Priyantha, a former resident of Negombo, was given refugee status in Italy because of the economic crisis and collapse of the Sri Lanka’s tourist industry, following the 2019 Easter terrorist bomb attacks in 2019.
“I came to Italy just two years ago and am currently working for a cleaning company owned by a Sri Lankan. I’m working very hard and must clean about seven large five-storied housing complexes per day. My working hours exceed 16 hours per day but am only paid €6 per hour,” he said.
Priyantha explained that this work is not available every day and he must find temporary work in the countryside. Even though a legally approved employment contract is required, many employers exploit the low-cost labour and provide only temporary work in defiance of the law.
Prime Minister Georgia Meloni’s government, he said, was slashing migrant workers’ rights as well as cutting welfare to the unemployed.
On August 1, the Italian government ended all welfare to 169,000 poor families, claiming that they were “fit for work.” Meloni has warned that these cuts are just the beginning and that there will be more social attacks. This means there will be another migrant worker employment crisis in the future.
Priyantha explained that his wife and children were living in Sri Lanka but the hard-earned money he sent back was eroded by inflation and not sufficient for his family’s needs, including his children’s education.
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2023/09/16/cbxh-s16.html
------ Post added on Sep 17, 2023 at 12:03 PM
✔✔✔Sri Lankan migrant workers speak out over worsening social conditions
M.S. D. Thisera, Dehin Wasantha✔✔✔
------ Post added on Sep 17, 2023 at 12:03 PM
Priyantha, a former resident of Negombo, was given refugee status in Italy because of the economic crisis and collapse of the Sri Lanka’s tourist industry, following the 2019 Easter terrorist bomb attacks in 2019.
“I came to Italy just two years ago and am currently working for a cleaning company owned by a Sri Lankan. I’m working very hard and must clean about seven large five-storied housing complexes per day. My working hours exceed 16 hours per day but am only paid €6 per hour,” he said.
Priyantha explained that this work is not available every day and he must find temporary work in the countryside. Even though a legally approved employment contract is required, many employers exploit the low-cost labour and provide only temporary work in defiance of the law.
Prime Minister Georgia Meloni’s government, he said, was slashing migrant workers’ rights as well as cutting welfare to the unemployed.
On August 1, the Italian government ended all welfare to 169,000 poor families, claiming that they were “fit for work.” Meloni has warned that these cuts are just the beginning and that there will be more social attacks. This means there will be another migrant worker employment crisis in the future.
Priyantha explained that his wife and children were living in Sri Lanka but the hard-earned money he sent back was eroded by inflation and not sufficient for his family’s needs, including his children’s education.
https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2023/09/16/cbxh-s16.html
------ Post added on Sep 17, 2023 at 12:03 PM
