In the early 80's, recently graduated, I learned that my friend and colleague of the degree course, Francis was responsible for Marcigliano Federbraccianti of the district of Eboli. Those were years when the union was trying to give dignity to the work of laborers subject in a diffuse way, to exploitation.
organizations also engaged in illegal activities, they were 'offered' as mediators of the workforce between landowners, with few scruples and a lot of money, and unemployed workers that lived in small villages in the hills around the large and fertile plain of the river Sele in the province of Salerno. In difficult situation of having to deal with often very different interests among agricultural workers, the ever-popular dichotomy between casual and permanent workers, the union had to fight on several fronts. In a situation of high level of productive farms in the plain of the Sele, labor relations were constantly associated with paternalism and widespread lawlessness. What could be my contribution to this reality of social struggles and trade union? I spoke with my friend Francesco, with the head of the Chamber of Labour of Eboli, Lucio Russomando, and we decided that I could contribute to the knowledge that reality through a photographic research. And so, with Francis, who knew very well all the different reality and with a nice and friendly photographer Roman Lisa Bartoli, a freelance who worked with the CGIL Roman wandered for days for those lands. At dawn, the times in which the laborers gathered along the streets to be collected by vans corporals; in work hours and breaks. Marcigliano guidance was impeccable. Everyone knew him a little, not only because union but for a human energy that was the hallmark of his work. Russomando fully supports this initiative with determination and a bit of courage. The union, in that area, did not familiar with this type of intervention. Eventually some images were published in newspapers of the CGIL thanks to Lisa Bartoli, and a selection photographic exhibition of my work was that we did shoot in all towns in the Sele plain. Russomando, as was his style, he went further and made a 10-image portfolio with two addresses: one economist Enrico Pugliese, and another by Francesco D'Agostino, regional secretary of the CGIL Federbraccianti. I helped in the selection of images Raffaele Venturini, the most interesting photographer Salerno, photo printing was completed, with the usual attention, by Anna Maffi, photographer and friend forever. The publication was sold to political money to help build the new Chamber of Labour of Eboli
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