I was curious why there aren’t independent artisans selling goods from Italy online like you can find from the UK. Now I get it. These artisans need a union but easier said than done in Italy. Where is the EU?
49
This is one of the many examples of modern slavery in the world today. Truly shameful.
These companies must invest in corporate responsibility, supply chain mapping up past tier 1 and tier 2, and do a better job vetting suppliers. It’s no longer good enough to leave it to trust. Investors are starting to pay attention and prioritize firms that do things right. Look at the cocoa industry for examples of how to take steps to turn this around.
72
This is a propaganda article intended for the average ignorant american reader that knows little about italian manufacturing.
Building up an entire report on a few isolated cases is simply slimy. Paying workers 1euro per hour is not the standard at all, actually most of the artisans in the fashion industry are well paid and have never experienced such living conditions.
Quality of Made in Italy products is probably the best worldwide even foreign fashion brands such us Burberry and Luis Vitton produce some of their items in Italy and not in their own countries.
I am not surprised there is a rising fake news sentiment!
18
According to Krugman, sweatshop labor is a good thing.
https://www.thenation.com/article/why-was-paul-krugman-so-wrong/
3
In his book "Gomorrah", Roberto Saviano documented how deeply intertwined organized crime is in the supply train. If you are wondering where the money goes, that's a big part of the answer.
58
Well, heck. Donatella and Miuccia and the lot ain't gonna give up their glittering lifestyles for, you know, sisterhood 'n all.
How, exactly, do you imagine a silk dress encrusted with embroidery is made? Do you have any idea how long it takes to make those invisible stitches and nano-knots required to keep guests at the Met Ball, say, outdoing each other?
And--just to keep clear that exploitation is global--ask any South Asian-style bride you know if she's willing to give up her glorious gharara or gold-lavished veil so that children in poor villages can go to school instead of using their tiny deft fingers to make rich women look even richer.
75
Gosh.. I thought that all that mattered was that the investor class made good money on its investment!!!
It's entirely disgusting... that a large group of people think they should not have to pay taxes and as Leania's jacket proclaimed-- I don't care, do you?"
By the way this is the USA -- EDITOR -- why are all of the prices given in Euros-- NOT converted to USD??
Many places in Europe -- Yugoslavia, e.g. used to produce gorgeous embroidered items for sale at reasonable prices... The habit of paying too little for goods from China,etc. HAS GOT TO STOP. I am in favor of certain tariffs -- and for the Italian women -- some Hollywood person or maybe Amal Clooney needs to get involved and set up a collective. (with her name on it -- like Megan Markle's Grenfell Tower Cookbook with the women who endured the awful London fire.
A proper economic system (one can changed the adjective-- compassionate, logical) would realize that labor of all sorts is necessary and NOT EVERYONE is a skilled seamstress, waitress, home healthcare worker,, subway cleaner (I would love to see the books on this one -- just at the expensively redone filthy 168th St. Station which Andy B does not seem to be able to get cleaned... (while spending half a billion on a fare collection system... Rents, costs of food, gas -- (hidden taxes here there and everywhere), transportation, medical costs all are going up.... but wages for many people are close to rock-bottom. "I don't care, do you?!!"
12
What a cheap shot, the NYT!!! Boooo!!!
It must be some sort of strange causality that this article comes up just at the beginning of the Milan fashion week, with MaxMara and Fendi (firms that you quote explicitly) showing their marvelous collections today.
You quote unknown and unspecified sources, and reduce the entire Made in Italy to system to a group of 60 women you have interviewed in the deep countryside of Puglia (which by all means is not representative of the whole country and sector).
The Italian Supply chain integration in fashion is the best in the world, representing the competitive advantage of the industry over Paris, London and NY. I see this article just as an attempt to throw dirt on a top-class enemy which is just too hard to attack on a fair ground. I really hope this has nothing to do with the Italian fashion system gaining share and momentum at the expense of the American brands (which the NYT has always disproportionately supported), but the timing it comes out is just way too suspicious…
27
@Eric
Agree 100% with you.
8
Dana Thomas's book "How Luxury Lost Its Luster" (2008) is an explosive look at the underbelly of the Luxury world at the expense of growth and profits. I highly recommend the book to anyone interested on this topic. Workers are exploited all over the world in varying degrees but this article is poignant at looking how far down the rabbit hole some brands will go for the sake of "shareholder value".
39
I am a designer producing in NYC paying my tailors on an average 900$ per garment not including fabric and trims such as buttons. Both the American retailers and consumers do rather prefer buying from the Italian brands than buying from smaller brands here and abroad who actually pay per garment much more. The workmanship in Italy is excellent but the CFOs of the luxury brands are financial terrorists.
100
These women working at home, if living in the USA, would most likely be considered independent contractors which has no minimum wage protection. So this kind of abuse does happen here in our own country. Truly sad and unfair!
62
Yes it is
And sadly these women would have no other means to provide for their families
I come from an Italian family in the south of Italy where two of my widowed aunts had no other means to provide for themselves and their children without the opportunity to sew clothes for people who could afford to pay them
No health insurance or minimum wage provision
Don’t be so callous as to take this option for stay at home moms etc from rural areas to make a living when no other option is available to them
Not all countries are as affluent as the USA
Get real!
26
There is a photo here of Ms. Ventura's lawyer, Eugenio Romano, and presumably Ms. Ventura herself, but she (or the other woman if it is not her) is unnamed in the caption which reads: "Eugenio Romano, left, a lawyer who is involved in a lawsuit against a subcontractor of the the Italian shoe company Tod's, getting ready for the trial."
Ms. Ventura took a brave stand for her business by not bowing to the economic pressure of at least one unscrupulous company and refusing to make her workers pay for this, and ensuring they were compensated in accordance with the law. While it is a credit to Mr. Romano that he took the case, to have Ms. Ventura erased from a photo concerning her own legal battle is quite tone deaf in the current moment.
24
One more example of how global companies and brands not only outsource their labor in a race to the bottom but also outsource their morality and ethics to others - poorer, under greater pressure and willing to exploit those at the bottom of the food change, while the corporate grandees profess ignorance. Just as Claude Raines was Shocked! Shocked! That gambling goes on in Casablanca! But this is real life, and these are real people.
22
The "luxury" fashion business is a complete scam - there is nothing luxurious about exploiting cheap labor so that a giant corporation can pad it's already massive profits. "Made in Italy" really means nothing more than your multi-thousand dollar item was made by an exploited Italian. Only a fool would buy into this racket - paying thousands of dollars for a bag made in a sweatshop, or a coat constructed by a seamstress virtually paid pennies for their labor. When you see the retail prices on some of these luxury products compared to the costs of production, it is clear that the owners of these luxury conglomerates have one goal - gross levels of profit at the expense of workers. And fleecing luxury consumers into thinking they are getting something "special" for the thousands they are spending.
57
To exploit means "to conduct a bold or daring feat" or "to derive a benefit from some noble act". In this case it is women in a poor section of Italy earning money on the side which makes it easier for them to support and raise their families. Small wonder the unions are hostile to this practice since it cuts them out of the process.
Italy has very high unemployment and these unofficial and under the table jobs help keep people in poor regions of the country a float and out of poverty. It's a shame The New York Times either cannot or will not understand that.
5
@AZRandFan you skipped the relevant definition of exploit: "benefit unfairly from the work of (someone), typically by overworking or underpaying them." Giving you the side eye for being completely and willingly obtuse. There is NO reason these women cannot be paid a fair wage for their work.
49
This is just what the conservative movement in America is all about; above all cheapen the cost of labor.
Beware Americans these days for the good old USA are not far away.
17
I was in a mountain village in the outskirts of Tirana, Albania and observed women making Italian leather shoes (at least the brand was an Italian name) on the steps of their apartment building, so apparently they are exporting the work there as well. The women there also complained about their pay, and were receiving about the equivalent of 40 cents per shoe (they were sewing the uppers to the lowers by a whipstitch done by hand). I took photos.
51
Gee...sounds like sending jobs overseas has had the unintended consequences of making our citizens compete with Third Workd wages. If only someone were willing to impose tariffs to level the playing field...
15
This is also done in the produce business. Large US companies buy from or contract individuals to process fresh produce in their homes. Baby carrots, the ones with the tops still attached, fresh peas, snipped french green beans, to name a few, are picked up by the bushel, taken back to their homes and processed (cut, peeled, trimmed) and are taken back to a packing house.
16
I had always assumed that the the high price of Italian luxury goods at least partly reflected the high cost of labor in there in comparison to China and India. So much for that idea. These women need a union.
154
Simple solution: buy Hermes. Very expensive but very largely made by well-paid workers, mostly in France (100 % in the case of scarves).
19
@Denis Pelletier
Hermes does not makes it's scarves 100% in France; See:
https://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/23/opinion/23thomas.html
"The chief executive of the French luxury brand Hermès readily told me that some of its silk scarves are hemmed by hand in Mauritius, where labor costs less."
21
@Umm..excuse me
I stand slightly corrected. The hemming is a very minor part of the fabrication process. I also read somewhere that the silk is of brazilian origin. These details aside, I stand by my statement. Hermès remains the most "ethical" true luxury brand. Very old-school. Which is why they refuse to be bought out by the LVMHs of the world. And, no, I am not an Hermès employee or anything like that. Just a very satisfied customer over decades.
2
Separate from this excellent article, anyone who would like to consider themselves an "ethical consumer" only has to do a modicum of research to find the very few apparel manufacturers who treat their supply chain fairly. Being shocked and appalled after your purchase doesn't help anyone.
34
This is the first time I'm reading about this in a U.S. newspaper, but I know it's true. I lived in Italy and worked for Gucci for a few years. They took us on a trip to Florence where the women work from home sewing and stitching Gucci handbags, by hand.
Italy is like a Third World country. I lived there. I know. I worked for a Saudi firm that was based in Rome before opening my own business and then ultimately working for Gucci.
Italians are subjected to "contract" work, so that employers can avoid paying taxes. It's a racket. My Italian friends who don't work for Gucci, Prada or Bruno Magli, are just scraping by.
When Italy decided to swap the Lira for the Euro, prices doubled over night and people who were suffering prior to the currency change were literally thrown into poverty.
My ex-husband who is (Roman) Italian left the country years ago because he just couldn't deal with the corruption, bureaucracy and he had been working for Alitalia and making a very good salary.
Anyone who has a lot of money in Italy has either stolen it or inherited it.
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@McGuan
"Anyone who has a lot of money in Italy has either stolen it or inherited it".
It sounds a little "tranchant", it seems you don't know at all the thousands of italian companies that compete in the world in high technological manufacturing fields (like packaging automatic machine sector in Bologna area as an example).
18
My daughter's company relies on Italy to execute its fashions. She prefers Italy and Italians, but also works with Indians and the Chinese.
Her characterization of each experience she can sum up in a sentence. She never wastes time and is always moving. In some ways she is as slavish to global economics as these Italian ladies. Her immediate family shudders at her life.
From her Manhattan tower she occasionally makes a visit home to her humble origins and next year when that happens, I will be sure to ask her about this.
Personally, I think the globe is spinning too fast and in the wrong direction.
66
How lucky for them that they have this work they choose to do.
4
In his 2006 novel Gomorrah, Roberto Saviano detailed the underground and illegal manufacturing of designer-like goods, including shoes, leather goods and runway clothes in homes and basements throughout southern Italy. Set up, funded and protected by local organized crime families like the Camorra, the tentacles of which have spread to eastern Europe, Russia , Germany and especially China.
37
Thousands of adjunct college professors in this country get the same shoddy deal as these workers: minimum wage, no contract, working at their own kitchen tables because they have no offices, no healthcare, laughable "retirement" or no retirement, and all office equipment and supplies at their own expense. All this while teaching on several different campuses, and teaching the same number of classes as well-compensated full time professors, one of whom recently returned from her paid year-long sabbatical and complained about how much her workload has increased. She's paid 2 or 3 times more than the average adjunct profs teaching in the classrooms right next to hers.
No need to go all the way to Italy for a similar guilty expose of how talented expert workers are shamefully exploited. It's happening right here in higher education.
212
@DMS You initially state that an adjunct makes minimum wage, then claim that a professor makes two/three times more. Not accurate!
If you can find full-load in California, an adjunct could make $70,000/year, whereas, a full professor is making about $120,000. Yes, there are many exceptions. The benefits for the full professor might be tacking on an addition $40,000. The real crime is the way the adjuncts are treated, basically as migrant laborers. In reality, no one should allow themselves to be treated this way, and I would advise all adjuncts to quit!
16
The adjunct professor racket persists because there seems to be no end of people prepared to work like slaves so they can tell people they are an adjunct professor.
The way to end the racket is to decline to do the job.
11
@DMS keep up the complaining about well-paid professors, there won’t be any.
3
Italy is the 3rd largest economy in the Euro zone but has the lowest wages in Western Europe not to mention terrible services and crumbling infrastructure. It costs about 50 euros! to drive roughly 600 km on the highways where there are no rest areas except for very expensive restaurants which serve fast food. I regularly see bags of garbage along the roads which people apparently leave there. Corruption is rampant in all sectors not to mention organized crime. I've been living here for a while and in many ways it is a 3rd world country.
41
Exploitation of the poor who will work for a pittance, because to the needy one euro an hour is better than no euro and no work. Reminds me of my youth in New Jersey. When I was twelve to fourteen two of my aunts and their children and I would do "homework." We earned 2 to 4 cents a dozen cutting out embroidery and chevron appliques, earning about 20 cents an hour. I stopped cutting out the chevrons due to blisters and bleeding fingers as my tender skin could not handle the pressure of the scissors cutting rough cloth. We were glad to get the work.
In Dayton auto manufacturing workers used to be paid $25 per hour and the city thrived. After NAFTA their jobs were shipped to Mexico and some of those same workers now earn $12 an hour in a glass factory and consider themselves lucky because many are unemployed. Now tell me what are the CEOs earning? Will profits plunge by paying workers a living wage?
88
..Increased pressure from globalization
The crux of the matter - and not just in Apulia
There's always someone, in some other country, willing to work for less. Check out Ethiopia
Economists that advocated globalization and outsourcing (notably Paul Krugman) overlooked that globalization would not only lift 3rd world countries out of poverty but ALSO would lower to the global average the salaries of those in developed countries exposed to global competition.
To roughly the wage level of China
http://www.slate.com/articles/business/the_dismal_science/1997/03/in_pra...
25
@Woof. The economists didn’t overlook this. Standard macro international theory states that the wages will move to equalization. That is a feature of the theory, not a bug. Thus, operating as theorized. Since economists actually are not required in their training to study economic history, they forget that high wages, worker protections, etc. are achieved by social/political movements; these things don’t automatically happen. That is to say, they are a conditional relationship, not a necessary relationship in a capitalist economy. And quite frankly most of them don’t care about the personal impact as long as the math in their theories work. Otherwise they would be true political economists instead of classic bourgeois economists.
17
I would love to invite this journalist in my region, Le Marche, where we have also many artesans well paid, a lot of excellences in terms of quality and happy places to work. And everything despite the terrible earthquake we suffered two years ago. Same region in which Tod's rebuilt places and schools, factories and centers, becasue they live in this place and they know how important is giving back in the place in which you live. I know that living your entire life far from the beautiful Italy can be very stressful, and you want, in some way, screaming to the world that even if you live in a place that smells of fried chicken 24/7 we are a very bad place. Be honest. Say that our style and manufacturing level is incomparable with the rest of the world and live with this truth. I am happy to know that Italian Fashion Chamber is on its way to sue you for the damages to the image of companies mentioned only to make visitors to your article, but far from being involved in the conducts you are trying to describe. I wish you a fantastic life far from my country. Maybe you do not deserve our poor level of clarity in the contracts. But certainly we do not deserve your very one way comments to our complex and unique fashion economy. Ciao americana! ;-)
15
@Stefania This was not a critique on Italy as a country, its well known artisanship or its marvelous people. This is an article against human exploitation, and even if does not exist in your (I am sure) beautiful region, it does not mean that it does not exist in other regions -even within beautiful Italy. We MUST fight explotation in all its forms if we are to call ourselves HUMANS. Best Regards.
121
@Stefania
Ok, in Le Marche things are better for the seamstresses. But, don't neglect the poor women in Puglia working for one euro per hour. Have a heart.
42
@ME So what is the meaning of quoting Tods and only after saying that is not involved? To ensure visibility. To say that "even if we have no evidence, probably they know". Too easy. It is a country complex and difficult to make business. I have a company there. I work with artesans. I know them personally. We create jobs and we do not need this "advertising" that makes us appear like third world place for fashion jobs. This is not the way to fight the black contracts. Black contracts will decrease wuth less taxation and more investements. Investments that will decrease ALSO thanks to this type of articles.
Interesting an important article! Exploitative below-living wage jobs are not exclusive to so-called third world ("emerging") countries, and these working conditions can also readily be found right here in the US. We need more articles like this one that part the veils that shroud the ugly side of fashion. Shaming the glamorous names into doing the right thing is one of the best ways to change the situations of these workers. The clothes, shoes etc. are certainly expensive enough to pay a fair wage!
35
Penn South is a housing development in NYC. Penn South (not the original name) was developed and built by the ILGWU, the International Ladies Garment Workers Union, so that the people who made clothes had affordable housing. Much like Ford and auto workers and Met Life and its workers.
NYC is also the site of the Triangle Factory Fire.
The ILGWU came into being because of the unsafe work conditions, and the lack of living wages. Some people, like Ford, understood that if you don't pay someone enough, they can't buy your product. MetLife understood that a secure worker has loyalty to the company.
How can anyone wear these clothes made by modern-day wage slaves and not be haunted by the human cost? At some point, we will implode and unions (or something similar) will rise again.
54
This takes me back to the 1950s when my Italian-American mother did "homework" in Brooklyn. It was a way for women with children to stay at home and earn some money. I remember my cousin's wife, who was from Ecuador, doing this in the '70s. I'm sure that their skills were exploited and suspect that it is still going on.
36
Thank you for this enlightening article. Since the Rana Plaza disaster, I find it increasingly worrying not knowing whether brands produce their collections ethically and ecologically. Do you have some good sources of information on the subject? Last spring I visited an exhibition on fashion and its ecological impact at the Victoria and Albert museum in London, and I now know that there are brands and designers making sure their collections are produced respecting both employees and the planet, but I'd really love to be able to have the right information to take it into account as a consumer trying to make an impact.
31
It's called piecework and was fought in the states by the unions many, many years ago. My mother was a member of the ILCWU and we always 'looked for the union label'. Just a way for companies to get around paying a fair wage and taxes.
143
It's important to note that many who do this type of work are immigrants--economic migrants, to be specific. The Prato region is now home to many Chinese people who've come seeking opportunities. What's also interesting is that once the workers learn the skills required by high-end fashion houses, they often set up their own shops, built on the same model of exploitation.
The money (profit) is going somewhere and following that trail would also be interesting.
19
@H.L. This article is about piece-work done in the south of Italy, not about immigrants. It's very similar to the work done by Italian immigrant women of my parents and grandparents generation in this country. There's nothing terribly exceptional about it. By contrast, Chinese immigrants in Prato (and elsewhere) in textile trades often work for factories owned by Chinese businessmen, many of which operate on the sweatshop model. A Chinese businessman buys the factory and then he imports the people to work in it. The profit trail in all cases is relatively easy to follow... it generally leads to the back to the top, and the more middle men, as in the case of this article, the more grubby hands in the pot. The people who have real skills, as is often the case, see the least.
35
The more complicated the tax laws, in Italy, Contributi, EVA, VAT and other payroll taxes, the more Employers and Employees will go to avoid them. Italy needs a business renaissance.
18
This morning I am picking up my dress pants that needed hemming from an Italian women who works out of her house. She is elderly and from bari. He work is second to none. She charges 5 dollars to hem pants here in America.
36
@Mick $5 to hem pants is a bargain. My local dry cleaner charges $15. The good woman from Bari is used to low wages. Why not give her a tip for the fine job she does.
99
I was born and lived all my life in North of Italy but I can tell you all that PUGLIA is not the 3rd world! 1$ per hour! it does not exit!
We simply create masterpieces and without them you'd walk around New York naked.
I will stop my subscription to the New York Time .
Alberto Macchi
13
@Alberto Macchi Well done!
3
@Alberto Macchi
excellent ..alberto....i m sure many will do the same
3
And this is the problem in every big “successful “ city! Those of us with pleasant jobs at good wages are proud and ready to attack any criticism of how we live... but there is always a subculture that is doing the actual work, the unpleasant low-wage physical labor that sustains our pleasant lives. Italians be proud... but admit at least to yourselves that others have lives less privileged than you.
19
It would have been interesting to compare the salaries of these piece workers with the salaries of company spokespeople such as the one you quote as saying, “MaxMara considers an ethical supply chain a key component of the company’s core values reflected in our business practice.”
50
@ths907 A more accurate quote might be: “MaxMara considers the appearance of an ethical supply chain a key component of the company’s core values reflected in our business practice.”
27
Italy is far from being a first world country. Low wages, high unemployment, collapsing infrastructure, a large underground economy, just to name a few.
35
@Shauna Li Roolvink
Yes, but unlike the USA, its people don't die for lack of health care.
37
@Shauna Li Roolvink
Come here in Italy and check with your eyes!
This article is very misleading!
2
The cheapest shoes I see on the Tod's website are ugly men's slippers for €350. Yet the company's suppliers are balking at paying their subcontractors €10 for their work and the women in this article may not even earn €1 an hour. It's simply greed and a lack of ethics. (The quotes where Tod's threatens the stiffed sub-contractor while pulling a Pontius Pilate are rich.) Society needs a reckoning.
161
The fact that the government does not know how many people work this way just reflects the longstanding acceptance of the black market economy in Italy. While the workers probably do not make enough to have to pay much, if any, income tax on their earnings, the employers do not have to pay into any benefit programs. What really makes my blood boil is that these people are so vulnerable that disaster is always just around the corner since they haven`t paid into any safety nets, pension plans, etc. Obviously this is not just an Italian problem. There is a small operation working in basement flat down the street where I live and I ask myself when I pass by, if the workers (all male in this case) are being paid fair wages. It brings to mind all the The governments have failed these people in so many ways. But, if anyone were to complain, they would lose the pittance they were earning to someone a little more desperate.And if the government were to enact and enforce labour laws properly, the companies would just move their operations back to Asia. The annual reports of these companies are available online. In 2017, LVMH group that includes Louis Vuitton, made almost 5,000,000,000 Euros in profit from its fashion activities alone. Since 2016, their overall profit has increased by more than 20%. Slave labour.
77
I suggest the author, if she wants to be an investigative journalist, to collect the information better and safely.
The fashion names she cited will never and don’t go to look for houseworkers. I mean, never directly.
Big fashion groups uses (the right term) a branch of small industries which in Italian are called FASSONISTI which means fashionistas, in other term contractors of the fashion industry.
Companies that struggle to keep the pace of all the Made in Italy production, which receive fabrics, the model, the accessories and a strict timing to complete a job, hourly paid, job that they will never be able to complete on time and for the money offered. So that the housework, paid cash and by meter sewed save their day and create what it is called an inducted grey business which employs people, most skilled women, who works from their home, care the boys and girls, cook the dinner, keep the house running at the same time.
This is how it works. And it works for many different jobs and various industrial sectors.
Leave a part insurance, health care and pension funds. These people has never had a regular job paid, they will get at least the minimum pension fund at the age of 65, but still healthcare is free or upon a minimum token which vary from zero to €70.
In Italy there is no minimum wage. But exist a moral responsibility within employers and employees to evaluate the skill, capacity, loyalty and usually workers don’t jump from one job to another three time per year.
12
@Silvys "The fashion names she cited will never and don’t go to look for houseworkers. I mean, never directly."
Well, yes. That's what she writes in the article. That many of these fashion names have no idea any of this is happening because they are contracting out the work to other factories.
12
It is simple: given the cost of the garments and the profits to the corporations there is NO REASON for actual seamstresses to be paid so poorly. They could be paid triple or probably even 10x the amount and the clothes and shoes would still be enormously profitable without having to raise prices at all.
81
Thanks for this eye-opening report. I love Italian made clothing. I had assumed workers were paid fairly considering the astronomical prices. This is so unfair.
139
@Tony S this is exactly the type of thought that the NYT wants its readers to think. Interviewing 60 women from the (quite poor) region of Puglia (without even mentioning proper sources) is not representative of the industry and of the country as a whole.
The Italian supply chain integration in fashion is the best in the world and represents the competitive advantage of the industry over Paris, London and NY. I see this article just as an attempt to throw dirt on a top-class enemy which is just too hard to attack on a fair ground.
Also, the times it comes out is quite suspicious too: right at the beginning of the Milan fashion week, with MaxMara and Fendi (firms that you quote explicitly) showing their marvelous collections today. Mmmmmmm.
5
Insurance is a word that can mean life or death in the American vocabulary which is not the case in most of the industrialized world.
Readers must be informed that all Italian citizens are granted access to their excellent universal health care system.
I believe the national insurance identified in the article is referencing social security and pension taxes.
42
@Susie The US offers Medicaid and Medicare as well as guaranteed treatment in hospitals. The quality of care granted by private insurance is exponentially better than that offered by universal healthcare in Italy.
3
@ArielNot true, and I suspect you have never experienced Italy's "universal healthcare".
1
This view will not be popular, but if the workers enjoy the work and accept the wages, I don't see a problem with it. They are saving the cost of daycare, which probably would eat up the extra money they would make working in a factory. Plus, it sounds like they want to be with their families. It also sounds like they are producing a high-quality product, unlike those made in China. If the workers choose this option, why should anyone interfere?
15
@SBC Choose? There is no choice. Either accept the conditions or starve (or close to it). There opis no other work to be had. This notion of choice is just good ol’ capitalist propaganda.
29
@SBC It's not that your view is unpopular- it's unethical! This is OUR world and we make it what we want it to be! If we can create a workplace that allows skilled women to be both good workers, good earners, and good mothers and wives, why shouldn't we? Why is working from home seen as some kind of privilege or luxury that she has to pay for? Is her work not as good as if she rode the subway to some factory everyday like a man and spent her day uni-tasking instead of multi-tasking?
You're measuring today's world with a measuring stick that we had no input in designing. Why do you do that? Why do any of us do that? Why not change our Victorian industrial revolution expectations of what work needs to be and demand better for our craftswomen? That seamstress's work is impeccable no matter where she does it and her product commands an extraordinary price, why is she not benefitting from her work and her skills when every other person who touches that garment will get a piece of the action? A plumber charges more for a toilet in a fancy estate then he does in a middle class neighborhood because the house is worth more when he's done. He deserves a piece of that action just like anyone else. That's capitalism.
28
Talk about being tone deaf. Jeez.
6
Sadly, both the women and the subcontractors may prefer it this way because they can avoid paying taxes. It’s still not much, but without tax, their take home pay is almost double what it would be if they were not paid “in nero”, or under the table in cash.
35
Ironic that the US taxpayers who pay my salary as a Federal worker with oversight that includes counterfeit luxury brands don't know one thing. The government asks me to spend whatever time it takes to notify the trademark holders like LVMH and Gucci whenever bogus goods bearing their marks try to enter the commerce of the USA. But the same government does nothing to prevent their own importation of sweatshop and other forced labor goods. This issue needs to be escalated to Congress and legislation should be instated to prevent the entry of sweatshop goods, just as we prevent child and slave labor produced items.
168
@Tournachonadar
You're right, but it ain't gonna happen. Congress is owned by the corporations that profit from the current state of affairs.
51