‘I had pain all over my body’: Italy’s tainted tobacco industry
Migrants working in areas supplying Philip Morris, British American Tobacco and Imperial Brands allege abuses including low pay and illegal contracts
Three of the world’s largest tobacco manufacturers, Philip Morris, British American Tobacco and Imperial Brands, are buying leaves that could have been picked by exploited African migrants working in Italy’s multi-million euro industry.
Workers including children, said they were forced to work up to 12 hours a day without contracts or sufficient health and safety equipment in Campania, a region that produces more than a third of Italy’s tobacco. Some workers said they were paid about three euros an hour.