Mahela: I can give/reveal information but I want to be anonymous if you are going to publish and if you want to use my name you need to ask permission from my lawyer. 

I will not work maybe another six months. I want to go. I want to leave the factory. I don’t want to work [there], I don’t like the work. 

Earlier they had another management and now my contract has been renewed under CGL and I have agreed to work for another year. 

Don’t take any kind of pictures of me because my coworkers will recognize me.

Interviewer: What’s your name? 

Mahela:Danith. Write it but you can’t say it. 

Interviewer: How old are you?

M:Fifty-eight.

I: When did you arrive in Italy? 

M: 2004. So, 21 years maybe.  If you’re going to add more information about me, people will know it’s me. 

I: How did you decide to come to Italy, what’s the reason? Why did you select Italy specifically? 

M: My sister lives here. My sister helped me to come here to Italy. 

I: And what drove you to immigrate?  

M:The dream of Europe; to make money. And I built a house in Sri Lanka through the money I’ve made here. 

I: Did you come here alone or with your family? 

M: I came here and then I sponsored my family. 

I: Have you been working in manufacturing or factories since you arrived? 

M: No, I worked in a communications store (sending money/making calls/etc) (remittance and money exchange services) and then I worked as a caregiver. When I was working as a caregiver, that’s the point where I brought my family here on a sponsorship. Then I went to work in a factory in 2014 or 2016 as I remember.

I: How long have you been working in the factory?

M:six years. In the factory if you’re going to say six years, they will know it’s me. If you’re going to mention six years they will recognize me immediately. Please do not mention the years I have been working there. 

I: Without thinking twice you can be honest with us, we will only take the important points without your details so you can be open and honest with us.

M: I don’t have any issue answering your questions, I’ve already been questioned like this by people who would come to the factory when I was working there. But we don’t answer them, because I have to work there otherwise I will be kicked out. Always they would come to check, Dior (luxury brand), the order.

M: If I have a problem where I am working, I will just contact my lawyer. I don't care about my coworkers or what they will do, I care about myself.

M: Always with someone to control. also Dior.

I: Why do the other coworkers not want to speak out? Do they prefer this job, are they afraid, or is it just generally difficult to find work? 

M: There is no one to talk straightforwardly with. If I have a problem I go directly and solve it because if I speak to my coworkers or my friends, I will end up in a problem later. I prefer to go directly to the administration directly through my lawyer and solve it. 

M: I go to work, work, and go home. I don’t worry about other employees' problems. If I go to work for two days, I know only what happened on those days. I don’t ask my coworkers what happens when I’m not there. I worked for four days and then I’ll have a day off and then again when I go there everything will be different. It won't be the same as the previous day.

I: So whatever the problem you have you get it solved by your lawyer. How about your coworkers? Do they do the same thing or are they staying silent?

M: Whatever the problems I have I solve, but others don’t speak up. Whatever the people are going through, the reason: they don’t know where to go and complain and how to do [so] and how to get things done. That’s the main thing.

M: We can’t talk with them, if I talk with them they will go behind my back and complain about me. We can’t mention those things right, even to them [coworkers]. Not only Sri Lankans but we have Pakistanis and people from other countries, also. We do have Italians working with us too, but when it comes to Italians or Europeans they do treat them according to the regulations. But when it comes to Asians such as Sri Lankans, Pakistanis, they treat us differently.

I: Do you feel the difference between how they treat Europeans and non-Europeans? 

M: Yeah, I feel it.

I: If it wasn’t because of this, is it a good job that you enjoy? Or is it a difficult job for everyone? 

M: The only benefit I have through this job base is my unlimited contract. Because of this contract I had the opportunity to buy a house under my name in Italy and to get my family here.

I: How many hours do you work per day?

M: Eight hours of work and one hour of break. Now everything is regulated so time wise, everything is fine. My hours are okay, I mean I used to work eight hours a day with one hour break time. Now everything is fine with the working hours. I don’t have an issue. So last time my contract was for one year under INPS, so this time my contract is under CGL.

I: Why did they change your contract from INPS to CGL? 

M: There is no work, I can understand, that they didn’t have work to do. But under CGL we now get more orders and more work to do. Under INPS sometimes we did little work or had little to do. 

I: How did you work this week?

M: I worked four days per week, before I worked two days a week. Now four. When I was working under INPS they reduced the working hours to two days per week. Now under CGL I work four. This is my first month under CGL so I am not sure how I will be paid or what the paycheck will look like.

I: What is your job role there? 

M: I’m a sandblaster. Sabbiatore. We will get the raw leather and my job role is to sandblast the leather to clean it and remove the fur. 
I: Do you wear a mask?

M: Yes, we wear masks but the covid masks, but I would still get the sand particles coming through the mask. 

I: Is it mandatory or optional?

M: No it’s not mandatory but we do have masks in the wardrobe. When I enter the factory, the first thing I do is go to the wardrobe and put on the mask.

I: Is there someone to control so that if you're working without a mask they will instruct you to put one on?

M: Yes, they come around and tell us, but no matter what I wear it is because of the particles. 

I: Do you wear eye protection? 

M: So the machine I work at is a closed machine, so no dust or particles will come out. Inside you use the pistols with your hands [inside of gloves] to blast [the skin to prepare] it. There are two types of machines. If it is a closed machine it is not needed to wear eye protection. With the open machine, we have to wear eye protection because the particles are all around us in the air. 

I: Did they start mistreating you from the beginning when you started working or after some time working there? 

M: They were treating me like that from the beginning, but I was patient because of the contract and I wanted the unlimited contract so I didn’t go to find a solution because I was waiting for the contract. Now it’s not the same as the beginning, because there are some other people like me who have been asking for solutions and to be treated well. So now they are working according to the rules and regulations as to how they should be treating us well. 

I: How long did you work to get the (permanent) unlimited contract? 

M: More than five years. 

I: So did you got the permanent contract after five years ?

M: Yeah being five years now. 

M: At first they gave me a six month [probation period] and then the permanent contract. No, actually they gave me a two month contract, then a three month contract, then a six month contract and then a permanent contract. 

I: Are there more men or women working in the factory? 

M: It’s equal, we have a balanced amount of men and women. They have divided into shifts. Before there were more men than women but now they have broken it into shifts because we don’t have a lot of work. 

I: The entire factory is focused on leather or are there other things done there like garments?  

M: No, no, no, only leather. We are mainly focused on leather. We get raw leather and then they burn off the fur and one guy will clean the burnt material and pass those to us where we will proceed to clean it with the sand blaster and we blow off the sand particles from the sand blasting process and give those to the cutting process.

M: There are ladies for the cutting process, They cut the material, quality check and send them to the factory [for assembly]. We get the bag in pieces. To make a bag there are pieces in the front and back, two pieces and then two pieces for the side, one piece for the bottom and two pieces for the handle. All together its like six pieces. 

M: So our job is, once we get the pieces, to burn them, sand blast the burnt fur, blow off the sand particles, send them to the quality check and where they cut away the imperfections. 

I: The main production of the factories is bags? 

M: The main production is bags, yes. 

I: Is there a made-in italy tag with the final bag? 

M: No, the final products will be sent to Dior. . After the leather is finished and cut, it will be sent to another factory under the same management where it is assembled into a bag. 

From there it will be sent to Dio. r.

M: We send the materials to a different place to be stitched and we have a different factory for stitching. Mainly they used to handle with the leather thing and that leather is sent to another factory for stitching and from there they will be sent to Di. or. 

I: Are your managers Italian?  

M: The subs are Chinese and the director is Italian. 

I: How large is the factory and do you have many managers or supervisors?  

M: I have a Chinese supervisor and an Italian supervisor. There is one director and he is Italian.

I: How large is the factory? 

M: The factory is as big as the Lidl in Via Francesco Baracca. Because we do have so many machines. 

I: So for an example, in a shift how many people work? 

M: Almost twenty people per shift. 

I: Is it the same for everyone, 8 hours of work and 1 hr break? 

M: Yes, it's the same for everyone. 

I: So you are saying you have been mistreated. Is it verbally, physically or fiscally, in terms of payment wise? 

M: To be honest, it’s not verbally but if I have an issue with the payment, I have my lawyer so I get it solved. So, I do not have a problem with the payment because I have my lawyer. 

M: Italians, they used to talk in a nice manner, but you know about Chinese, I don’t want to mention it here, but they only care about taking work from us. That’s what they care about. If there is a goal, the work has to be done somehow. That’s how it is. 

I: So the way that they treat you mentally and physically, would you say its good or bad?  

M: I can say neither good nor bad, they just care about work. 

I: What led you to speak to a lawyer about your treatment within the factory? 

M: I understood when I [started] working there that there were no regulations [in place], so I solved my problems in the past. After that only they were afraid that they must treat me right and they made everything according to the regulations. 

I: Is this what other employees complain about but are afraid or unable to fix or address? The use of time?

M: No one talks because they are afraid [of the management]. I used to raise my voice to the Chinese, even today I had a situation but others they don’t talk for themselves. I directly had an argument with the boss. Even in that conversation I scolded him. 

M: We don’t want to be afraid of them, if there is a problem I speak to my lawyer and he will talk directly to the director. Once I learned a lesson by saying a problem to one of my Sri Lankan coworkers and he turned his back on me and complained to the manager and said I was going against the factory, After that they watch me more closely. so, now I don’t speak to any of my coworkers about any of my problems anymore.  

I: Why do you think your coworkers told the manager what you said? 

M: They have an advantage by saying so. If they come late to work, rather than cutting from the paycheck they will be excused or maybe they are given another 20 or 30 euros extra in pay. I think in doing so they have an advantage in their career. 

I: Do you like living here [in Italy]? 

M: I’ve applied to get an Italian passport and I might get it very soon. 

I: Do you miss something in Sri Lanka?

M: No, no, nothing like that. I have given the responsibility to look after my house in Sri Lanka to my wife’s sister’s daughter. 

Something to drink? I have drinks