2024-05-06 13:16:34
BOLZANO. Come and work with us: you will have free accommodation. There is no sector in Alto Adige that does not suffer from a shortage of personnel: from health workers to drivers of the public transport service, through to waiters and many other figures linked to tourism. There are many initiatives adopted to entice workers from other areas of Italy to come to our province and, among these, the most applied is undoubtedly the offer of accommodation at subsidized or at least “humane” prices compared to the average.
There are also those who, in the contract, even include a room and a bed for free. However, the expectations of those who leave their land and loved ones to earn a few more euros are not always respected. This is the case of a fifty-year-old from Calabria with a lifeguard license rescue worker who had already worked in a plant in the province last summer.
The experience had been more than positive, the salary was good, the food and accommodation were excellent. “I ate well – explains the man – I had a clean and welcoming single room.” For this reason, he had worked hard to return again this summer, sending several CVs to the area.
An offer had arrived from a beach in our province which, in addition to an adequate salary, guaranteed the fifty-year-old also food and a bed. Mindful of last year’s experience (“I had to give up, but I remained friends with the employers”), the man accepted the proposal. But the enthusiasm and hope of avoiding a large chunk of his salary going towards rent did not last long.
Just enough time to go up to Alto Adige, at the end of last week. The lifeguard immediately discovered that the “precious accommodation” he had been offered was nothing more than a dirty and damp hovel, to be shared with other employees of the facility, where hygienic conditions were far from guaranteed. The bed, in fact, was a mattress covered in stains, on which not even a sheet had been placed. The bathroom was shared and not much better placed than the room. Of course, we shouldn’t even talk about privacy. In short, the fifty-year-old’s dream was immediately shattered and after a sleepless night spent deciding what to do, the lifeguard had no doubts: spending an entire summer in those conditions was unthinkable.
And so, on Sunday afternoon, he reached the Bolzano station, got on a train and… returned to his Calabria. «I contacted the manager of the facility – he explains – I pointed out to him that it was impossible to live and work in those conditions. He made me understand that if I wasn’t okay with it, I could leave. Which I did. I returned home, but I was bitter and I felt humiliated».
2024-05-06 13:16:34