In the vineyards between Gorizia and Udine, an hour's work was worth less than €3

27 September 2026, 18:23

In the vineyards between the provinces of Gorizia and Udine, 107 workers resident in Romania were tending the vines on behalf of local wine producers. None of them was on the books, either in Italy or in Romania. Their pay, in some cases, did not reach €3 net an hour. An hour in the vineyard, paid the same as a glass of the wine that comes out of it. It is called illegal gangmastering.

The people putting them to work were a company registered in Romania but run, in practice, from the province of Gorizia, which invoiced the wineries without VAT and declared nothing in Italy. Its director has been reported to prosecutors. The four heads of the organisation, arrested in 2023, are on trial.

The stick is already there. The criminal code punishes anyone who “uses, hires or employs labour” that is exploited, not only those who recruit it. And rightly so.

But the coachloads of workers do not arrive by chance. In Franciacorta, in 2024, 95 per cent of the grape harvest was done by foreigners, and the young people who once spent their summers there are gone. It does not only happen in the vineyards: in May this year Italian companies reported that more than one skilled worker in two was impossible to find. A winery that cannot find anyone locally buys the crew from whoever brings it. Often it has no other option.

So the question, for those who remember the vineyards only when the Guardia di Finanza uncovers a gangmastering case: if young people no longer go into the vineyards, who is supposed to do that work?

For anyone running a business, the step remains simple: before signing, divide the crew's price by the hours. If the result is below the cost of a properly employed worker, the difference is paid by someone who does not appear in the accounts.

That work, at €3 an hour, suited everyone. Except the people doing it.

This article was prompted by a news item published in ANSA.