- Workers in the investigated supply chain faced systematic wage suppression, averaging six to seven euros per hour without compensation for overtime, Saturdays, or Sundays.
- Investigators documented psychological abuse, including constant surveillance, phone monitoring, and direct intimidation tactics targeting vulnerable migrant workers.
Months of field surveillance, wiretaps, financial audits, and witness testimonies by the Prato prosecutor’s office exposed a deeply entrenched network of illegal subcontracting.
According to investigations led by prosecutor Luca Tescaroli, the systematic infringement of labor laws directly benefited companies operating within the local textile and apparel sector. Lanazione.it reported that these findings validate long-standing, concrete grievances raised by labor unions, most notably Sudd Cobas.
The investigation outlines four distinct vectors of exploitation within the targeted contractor network, specifically centered around the L’Alba facility in Montemurlo. Investigators found that workers received average hourly wages of six to seven euros for shifts that routinely exceeded standard legal limits. Formal payroll ledgers frequently diverged from actual hours worked, omitting mandatory compensation for weekend shifts and overtime.
Beyond fiscal undercompensation, the inquiry documented widespread violations of basic occupational health and safety regulations. The vast majority of workers interviewed by investigators reported receiving zero formal safety training before operating industrial machinery. This operational hazard was drastically amplified by chronic physical exhaustion, as management denied workers adequate recovery time between consecutive shifts.
Living conditions mirrored the substandard environment of the workplace. Investigators identified critical sanitary and structural violations inside dedicated worker dormitories located on via Palarciano and via Circonvallazione Sinistra in Oste and Bagnolo di Montemurlo. Compounding these physical hardships, supervisory staff enforced a strict psychological regime characterized by confiscated mobile phones, constant digital monitoring, verbal abuse, and explicit threats.
Prosecutors emphasize that these infractions were neither isolated nor accidental, but rather comprised a stable, highly organized operational model. The entire business framework relied on the aggressive compression of labor costs by exploiting the profound social vulnerability of the workforce. Workers were predominantly non-European nationals lacking local familial support networks, highly dependent on employers for residential housing, and heavily burdened by debts incurred to reach Europe.
This acute precarity left employees heavily exposed to the whims of management, particularly given their dependence on temporary residency permits.
The judicial fallout from the Prato inquiry has extended directly to the retail brands at the apex of the supply chain. Zazoom.it reported that major fashion houses Patrizia Pepe and Dixie were placed under judicial administration for one year due to a systemic failure to monitor and prevent labor exploitation within their subcontracting networks.
- Lanazione.it.
- Zazoom.it. L’amministrazione giudiziaria disposta per i marchi di moda Patrizia Pepe e Dixie a causa della mancata vigilanza sullo sfruttamento lavorativo.
