“Italy’s luxury wineries rely on illegal migrant workers”

The rolling hills of Italy’s picturesque Langhe region produce some of the country’s most prestigious — and expensive — wines: Barolo, Barbaresco and Alba, making it a favoured destination for high-end wine tourism.

But the vineyards of this prized terroir, much like growers of humbler Italian vegetables, are relying on undocumented workers to confront acute labour shortages…

During the summer pruning and autumn harvest seasons — when their need for manpower peaks — winemakers in Langhe region turn to labour brokers, who care little about the legal status of the migrants they hire, according to local prosecutors, winemakers, union leaders and migrants…

Italy allows asylum seekers to work while their applications are processed, which can take years. But if they earn more than €6,900 in a year they are no longer eligible for free government shelters — a restriction that incentivises them to work without proper contracts…

Fallou — a Senegalese migrant who arrived in Italy a decade ago by boat — came to the Langhe region last summer…

At the train station in Alba, the main city in the region, he said he was approached by a Balkan man who offered him work in nearby vineyards at a promised pay of €5 per hour…