Foreign workers paid less than $2 an hour at US Consulate Milan site

The construction site of the new American Consulate in Milan has become the focus of a labour investigation after foreign workers alleged they received wages far below legal minimums. According to AP News, employment documents show workers were paid less than $2 an hour — a fraction of Italy's statutory minimum wage — to work on the diplomatic facility in the heart of Lombardy's capital. The discovery emerged on June 8, when investigators examined worker documentation and pay records at the site.

Milan, Italy's financial and commercial hub, has long marketed itself to multinational corporations and foreign investors as a city of strict labour standards and professional management. The alleged wage theft at a high-profile American diplomatic construction project strikes at that image. The consulate project represents significant foreign investment and political visibility in the city; the discovery that workers on the site were paid subsistence wages raises questions about oversight of labour conditions on major international projects in the region.