We highlight the publication of the working paper “Shades of Precariousness: Migrants’ Labour Conditions in an Italian Fruit District”, produced within the Horizon Europe project DignityFIRM, by Pietro Cingolani and Sara Korbi (FIERI).

The study provides an in-depth analysis of the dynamics of migrant labour in the Italian agri-food sector, with a specific focus on the fruit district of Saluzzo, in the Piedmont region.

Abstract

This country report examines how the strategies and interactions of key local actors shape irregular migrant work and labour conditions in the Farm-to-Fork sector, focusing on the Saluzzo fruit district (Piedmont region), Italy. The main research question asks how employers, migrant workers, state institutions, and non-state actors (trade unions, NGOs, third-sector organisations) act and interact within a “local battleground” to produce specific outcomes in migrant workers’ working and living conditions. The study draws on qualitative fieldwork in Saluzzo, including interviews with a wide set of stakeholders (public administrations, labour inspectorate, employment services, employers and employers’ associations, unions, NGOs and volunteers) and with migrant workers of different nationalities and legal statuses, complemented by documentary and contextual sources on the district’s agricultural economy and labour governance.