Our city is addicted to cheap migrant workers – this is a warning for Britain, says the Italian mayor
IT’S the proud port city in northern Italy where some of the world’s most impressive cruise ships are built – but where almost a third of the population is foreign-born.
Now residents of Monfalcone, an hour from Venice, have issued a stark warning to Britain of the dangers of becoming hooked on cheap overseas labour.
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And they tell of culture clashes with more than 6,000 Bangladeshi residents in a small town unfamiliar with Islamic culture.
The right-wing mayor of Monfalcone, Anna Maria Cisint, says that 31 percent of the 31,000 residents are foreign migrants, including Romanians and people from the Balkans.
Cisint, who went to current Buoyed by anti-immigration sentiment, he calls the influx an “invasion.”
She claims that only 1,700 of Bangladesh’s 6,600 residents work, and only a small proportion of them are women.
Others say Monfalcone would be a ghost town without the migrants who work for the state-owned shipbuilding company Fincantieri, but the newcomers have such low wages that they cannot afford to shop locally.
‘Tsunami is yet to come’
Conservative MP Neil O’Brien said: “This is a prime example of the downsides of a high-immigration, low-wage strategy.
There are aspects of the recent UK immigration policy that is too similar and has led to this large numbers come herewho have not worked, or have worked for very low wages, and the overall effect on the quality of life of people here has been negative.
“What happened in this city is a grave warning for Britain.”
Thomas Casotto of the Italian General Confederation of Labor told the Sun on Sunday: “We have tried to compete with China And Russia on the price by importing low-paid workers, but that is not the right solution.
“We have to compete on the quality of our products, and to do that we have to invest in training.
“We make people work for only four or five people under illegal contracts euros an hour. That is not acceptable.
“I fear this is the tip of the iceberg. The real tsunami is yet to come.”
Their culture is so different from ours. There is no will on their part to integrate. They live in Monfalcone
as if they are still in Bangladesh and some newcomers have radical viewsAnna Maria Cisint, mayor of Montfalcone
In 2021, there were 9.3 million foreign-born people aged 16 and over England And Walesaccording to the office for National Statistics.
It’s a huge increase from the 5.3 million of all ages living in Britain in 2004, according to the Migration Observatory.
One in four healthcare workers here was born outside Britain, as were more than 60 percent of bottlers, packers, canners and fillers – generally low-wage workers. jobs – according to the Office of National Statistics.
An ONS survey found that between October and December 2023, 4.6 percent of people on zero-hours contracts were born outside Britain.
A 2022 report by the Institute For Fiscal Studies suggested that immigration reduced the hourly wages of the lowest-paid members of the British-born population by around half of one pence per year.
Estimates from the World Bank and the EU’s statistics agency Eurostat suggest that £7.7 billion was sent abroad from Britain in remittances in 2018, much of which was likely earned by foreigners.
Mayor Cisint told us: “We now spend 95 percent of our welfare budget on foreigners. We have asked the shipbuilding companies to change their production model.
“We want them to promote direct recruitment of local workers. My message to Britain is that immigration has many consequences, so be careful.”
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The low birth rate Italy – 1.24 children per woman compared to 1.56 in Britain – means major construction companies have had little choice but to bring in workers from abroad.
Provincial secretary Casotto claims that 80 percent of the 8,000 migrants who build the £1 billion Fincantieri cruise ships are exploited and handled on illegal contracts by subcontractors.
He said: “We are not against people moving to Monfalcone because we need workers.
“But the salary these migrants receive is always lower than they were promised and they can end up working as many as 300 hours a month, even though the legal limit is 208 hours. It’s not fair competition.
“If you pay a fair wage, you cannot compete on price.”
Cisint, who has been in power since 2016, is part of the right-wing populist Lega party and has introduced policies seen as an attack on the area’s Muslims.
This includes effectively banning prayers in local Islamic centres, although she insists this is a planning issue as the buildings are intended for cultural activities.
She added: “So many men have been brought over from Bangladesh and our permissive system allows them to bring their family members.
“The model has caused wage dumping and reduced the attractiveness of shipyard work for the local community.
“Moreover, their culture is so different from ours. There is no will on their part to integrate.
‘Wage dumping’
“We see women with full veils and little girls going to Bangladesh to get married.
“They live in Monfalcone as if they were still in Bangladesh and some newcomers are radical in their views.
“Our country cannot afford to open our doors in this way.”
Enrico Bullian, a left-wing councilor for the wider Friuli-Venezia Giulia region, denounces Cisint’s policy as a “campaign to criminalize one ethnic group.”
He said: “Monfalcone without Bangladeshi workers would be a ghost town.
‘Without them the shipyard would not function and it generates 50 percent of our income GDP.
“They help the city grow because they have a lot of children, while Italians are slow to give birth.”
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Rejaul Haq, 36, runs a money transfer business in the city and is also a community leader.
From 2007 to 2013 he worked as a welder in the shipyards.
The Bangladeshi-born father of two said: “At first I was getting 12 euros an hour but they kept cutting until it was eight.
“Then I stopped. The cost savings are a race to the bottom.
“Bangladesh people still want to come and work here because they can earn four times as much this country is safer and more stable.
“Italy offers the opportunity for a first-class lifestyle.”
In the central square, retiree Giorgio Pacor (79) said: “I am proud that we build the most beautiful ships in the world.
“But we never have enough employees, so people always come here to work.
“The difference now is that Bangladeshi workers come from small villages and are poor.
‘They don’t have that money to spend at local businesses, so that we open stores that sell cheap and low-quality products.
“This is an issue that affects the whole of Europe, including Britain.”
A spokesperson for Fincantieri said it manages its supply chain in full compliance with applicable laws and regulations.
They said: “Those aware of alleged misconduct in supply chain conduct have been strongly encouraged – primarily by Fincantieri – to demonstrate and report it to the relevant authorities.
“Furthermore, in accordance with its long-adopted Code of Ethics and the highest ESG standards, Fincantieri continually strives to address, as far as possible, the unavoidable social impacts of its shipyards on all areas and communities in which the company operates and to soften.
“The Group operates on four continents with 18 yards serving 60 different nationalities worldwide, and exercises its social responsibility everywhere with full accountability to its workforce and local communities, according to the highest standards in its sector.
“With more than 100 years of experience historyFincantieri is very proud of its shipyard in Monfalcone and of its employees, whose tireless efforts generate billions of GDP in Friuli Venezia Giulia and thousands of jobs in the region through its ecosystems of SMEs.”
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