Italian authorities are investigating allegations of labour exploitation that have emerged from one of the most symbolically charged construction projects in the country: the building of a new United States consulate in Milan. Migrant workers on the site say they were subjected to low pay, long hours and restrictive working conditions, turning a flagship diplomatic project into the focus of a criminal inquiry.
The allegations centre on the construction of the new US consulate in Milan, a project valued at around 350 million dollars and carried out by the US-based contractor Caddell Construction. What was meant to showcase the partnership between the two countries has instead drawn scrutiny over how the workers who built it were treated.
Many of those workers came from Kenya and India. According to their accounts, they were promised fair wages before travelling to Italy to take up the jobs, but once on site they ended up earning significantly less than they had been led to expect, leaving them trapped far from home and dependent on the employer.
Testimonies cited by investigators allege that some workers were paid as little as two dollars an hour, far below the legal minimum wage for construction workers in Milan. The gap between the salaries that were promised and the money that was actually paid is now at the heart of the case being examined by prosecutors.
Italian prosecutors have placed part of the project under judicial supervision while they examine whether labour laws were violated. Two managers linked to the construction sites have reportedly been arrested, and investigators are reviewing whether the exploitation was systemic across the chain of contractors and subcontractors involved in the work.
Workers have described an environment of pressure and insecurity on the site. Their accounts have fed into a broader set of investigations in Italy into migrant labour exploitation, particularly in sectors that rely heavily on outsourced recruitment and layered subcontracting networks, where responsibility can become difficult to trace.
Rights groups say the case reflects structural weaknesses in labour protection systems across parts of Europe. As the investigations continue, attention is now focused on accountability within complex international supply chains and on whether stronger oversight can prevent exploitation in projects that carry both diplomatic and symbolic significance.