Milan consulate workers say they were paid less than $2 an hour

Foreign workers building the new U.S. consulate in Milan said they were promised fair wages, then saw paychecks shrink to the equivalent of less than $2 an hour after deductions for room and board. Italian prosecutors have placed Caddell Construction’s Italian branch under judicial control, keeping work on the $351.2 million project moving while a court-appointed administrator monitors labor compliance.

The case has become a test of whether the United States can police the labor practices tied to its own overseas buildings. A Milan judge upheld the control measure on June 9, and prosecutors said the arrangement would regularize workers and send progress updates to the court every three months. Paolo Storari, the prosecutor who has also led sweatshop probes tied to luxury fashion supply chains, is heading the inquiry.

Court material says about 70 workers, mostly from India, were funneled through an intermediary in New Delhi and pushed onto 10-hour shifts, six days a week, without safety protections and under constant threat of dismissal. The workforce ranged from 311 to 394 people in 2025, including 316 from India, and fell to 261 in February 2026. Two company managers in Italy were arrested on suspicion of labor exploitation, including one who was allegedly detained while trying to leave the country.

Workers interviewed at a trade union center described unpaid wages, threats and fear of retaliation. Four were from Kenya and one was from India. Two showed job offers on company stationery that promised annual salaries above €25,000, a stark contrast with the monthly pay some said fell to about €500 after deductions. In the court file, all 35 Indian workers said they paid 500,000 rupees, about $5,225, to secure 36-month contracts and travel to Italy, and their signed papers promised hourly pay of €1.31 to €1.91 plus food and accommodation.

The consulate project began in 2022 with a contract value of almost $210 million, was supposed to finish in 2025 and later slipped to 2028. The State Department’s Bureau of Overseas Buildings Operations now lists the project budget at $351.2 million for a 10-acre campus in Milan, with at least 500 locally employed construction workers expected. Caddell said it was cooperating with authorities and conducting its own inquiry. The State Department said U.S. law enforcement was working with Italian authorities and that the U.S. government does not tolerate labor exploitation, a pledge now being tested on one of its most visible overseas building sites.