Foreign workers building a $350 million American Consulate in Milan reported being paid less than $2 an hour after being promised fair wages by Alabama-based Caddell Construction, according to Associated Press interviews with five former employees.
Italian prosecutors are investigating Caddell after two of its managers were arrested in Italy on suspicion of labor exploitation. Prosecutors claim one was arrested while trying to board a plane, and the other was planning on fleeing the country.
The consulate probe was launched about six months ago and involved 70 workers, mostly from India. Prosecutors allege Caddell illegally deducted room and board from wages and forced them to work 10-hour shifts, six days a week. Some were paid as little as 500 euros (less than $580) monthly after room and board were deducted, prosecutors said. The minimum wage for construction workers in Milan starts at 13.39 euros (over $15) per hour.
Both Caddell and the U.S. State Department said they are investigating the allegations and cooperating with Italian authorities.
Two employees who spoke to the AP showed employment letters on Caddell stationery, signed by a company representative, promising annual salaries exceeding 25,000 euros (nearly $29,000).
They said they were not paid anything close to that and were threatened by human resources personnel at the job site after they questioned management.
"Caddell is committed (to) treating and paying workers fairly. We will continue to work with authorities in good faith to ensure the welfare of those who work on this important project," the company said in a statement.
An Indian worker said he was promised a monthly salary of 2,500 euros (nearly $3,000). Instead, he had a pay slip showing his actual pay amounted to around 500 euros (less than $580) per month. It listed an hourly wage of 1.55 euros ($1.80).
Caddell is also the company responsible for the construction of two much-criticized facilities, which ballooned in cost after the Alabama Legislature approved federal COVID-19 relief funds.
The construction bill signed into law during the 2021 special session bypassed the normal bidding process for the two 4,000-bed facilities. It specified that the state can instead negotiate directly with entities that were part of development teams that qualified for the projects under a lease plan that Ivey's administration had pursued but abandoned. Those entities included only Caddell and Birmingham-based BL Harbert International.
At the time, the stated reason for the impromptu special session was to set aside $1.3 billion in funding and expedite a process for the construction of two new prisons, one in Elmore County and the other in Escambia County, while the federal government was investigating the Alabama Department of Corrections for Eighth Amendment violations.
Nearly five years later, the price tag for the Elmore County facility alone has ballooned to more than $1 billion, meaning the legislature will need to find additional funding for the eventual construction of the Escambia County facility.
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