Dear Minister...

This letter was sent before the issuing of a circular in every province of Italy regarding the accepting of job applications by non-EU workers. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief when it was learnt that applications could be sent by post and not at the usual all-night queues, and that the minimum income of the applicant had been lowered on the request of a carer (now you just need a monthly income which is double your wage packet). However, in no province has the number of requests allowed been announced and for many nationalities the State has imposed stringent quotas which make it practically impossible to employ the applicant. An example: at 8.01am on 3rd February, 70 registered letters were sent to the Provincial Labour Directorate in Pesaro, and so on for every successive minute. But the quota for Moldovan workers is 14 people... in total! Single agreements between the State and non-EU countries decide who gets in and who doesn't. The State then allocates quotas which are not revealed... and manages them in a none-too-clear way with agencies like the catholic church.

20/01/2005

Dear Minister,

There's a little old woman of 90 in my building who has a carer, a girl who sleeps there and looks after her, who she treats like a daughter. 

A few weeks ago I read an article where you declared that you would not sign an amnesty allowing carers working illegally to declare themselves so that they can become legally employed and something you said struck me: you said that you thought this type of job should be done by Italians.

How on earth is it possible for this old lady to find some live-in help and who is Italian for less than 1,000 Euro a month? And above all, how is she expected to pay for it out of her pension? I am sure your words came from some other part of your body and not your head, because as you must know only too well the job situation in Italy means it is impossible to find someone willing to live in and take on the responsibility for an elderly person for less than 1,000 Euro a month. Of course, I am talking about elderly people who quite rightly wish to go on living in their own houses. But if you are suggesting they go and live in a home, that would only be worse. The charges are enormous and often family members are asked to sign the elderly patient's house over to the home. And in exchange for what? An existence in a place with no memories and no loved ones?

Maybe your "advice" is the result of your party's aversion to those that you call "foreigners" living in Italy, seeing that you feel you are being "invaded" by people who are simply looking for work. Over the years I have met many who are generous and full of curiosity about our country and I can assure you that it gives me no pleasure at all to discover that many carers who look after the elderly ("our" elderly people, as you would no doubt say) are practically forced to remain indoors for ever because they are afraid of being arrested, who cannot obtain work insurance, who cannot open a bank account or obtain healthcare.

It strikes me as strange that we have even invented a new word, "carer" for a job which, though very important, has yet to be legitimized fully.

I have heard about the "Flows" that your government opens every now and then to allow "foreign" people to obtain a permit to work in Italy, and that the dates of these "Entry Flows" are as eagerly awaited as the Second Coming.

A well-informed woman told me that in order to take on a carer, the government has established that the applicant must have a family income of over 45,000 Euro! Doesn't this figure seem a bit exorbitant? Do you really think pensioners have the same income as parliamentarians?

Basically, I don't understand these limitations and this desire to deny dignity and work to "carers", who often come to our country in order to improve their economic situations (and who often have degrees and qualifications), and who would prefer to learn a new job without having to hide away.

I object to your Government's trying to limit people's freedom. We should be free to hire whoever we want whenever we want. In fact, in a just society we would be pooling our resources to help the elderly remain independent in cases where their pension does not allow it. It would mean not only "legalizing" these carers but increasing care allowances or helping these workers through social insurance contributions. It may be that as I write you have already decided the "Flows" for 2005, the numbers that everyone waits for like they were lottery numbers. Then there will be a stampede for the queues with who knows what new rules: night-time queues, queues at the post office, trips to embassies? This is no way to do things and you know it, Minister. It is not right that laws are made and money is available for the good of the powerful, but that there are only restrictions for the workers, of whatever race they be.

And in the meantime, what is this 90-year-old lady to do? She hopes that her carer stays with her because she knows her now and they trust each other... and she asks me to tell you that if she really has to have an Italian to change her nappy, then you, with respect, are welcome... when you have time.

"A Neighbour"

from Alternativa Libertaria April 2005
News-sheet of the Federazione dei Comunisti Anarchici