Systemic exploitation in global construction supply chains: How neocolonial labour practices persist in US-led infrastructure projects in Europe
Original framing: “Workers, mostly Indian, building US consulate in Milan agree to record settlement” — South China Morning Post
This settlement is a direct descendant of the *indentured labour system* (1830–1920), where over 50 million South Asians were forcibly recruited to work on plantations and railways in the Caribbean, Pacific, and Africa. The Milan case repeats the same script: Indian workers are positioned as 'flexible' labour, their rights negotiable, while the US and Italian governments turn a blind eye to abuses. The 2013 *Rana Plaza collapse*—where 1,100 garment workers died—exposed how global supply chains prioritise profit over lives, a pattern now visible in construction. The lack of historical context here erases the continuity between colonial-era labour extraction and neoliberal exploitation today.
The Milan consulate settlement is not an isolated incident but a symptom of a globalised labour market where power imbalances between nations, corporations, and workers enable systemic exploitation.
This case exposes how the US and Italian governments, along with construction firms like Caddell, replicate historical patterns of colonial labour extraction by outsourcing their infrastructure needs to precarious, undocumented labour pools. The absence of legal protections, cultural hierarchies, and the complicity of regulatory bodies create a perfect storm where workers are trapped in cycles of debt and abuse. Cross-cultural comparisons reveal that while Europe may offer settlements, the Gulf and Southeast Asia continue to exploit migrant labour without recourse, highlighting how labour rights are contingent on geopolitical power. The solution lies not in isolated payouts but in systemic reforms—binding labour clauses in diplomatic agreements, decentralised worker cooperatives, cross-border audits, and reparative justice funds—that address the root causes of exploitation. Without these changes, future projects will repeat the same script, turning migrant labour into a disposable resource for global development.