Mondo
Italy: Gypsies find work with the help of cooperatives
Rubbish collection, laundry services: cooperatives have had a number of successful experiences working with Gypsies, who have had to adapt to the rapidly changing job market
di Staff
?The relationship between gypsies and work? It?s good, very good, if anything the problem is that people don't trust them? says Alessandra Longo, who together with Lazio?s Opera Nomadi has seen the creation of a cooperative of eight gypsy women (Italian, Romanian and Bosnian) that provides laundry and ironing services for a big private hospital near Rome.
Until the end of the fifties, the activities of gypsies were mainly made up of old-fashioned professions connected to rural society: merry-go-round operators, street traders, grinders, tin men, animal breeders, begging and chiromancy. They also had the important function of linking villages to one another, a vital service in a rural and mainly illiterate society and their work was closely connected to seasonal events such as feasts, fairs and markets.
Aleramo Virgili, of the national Opera Nomadi, explains that: ?Up to the second world war the employment of gypsies was so well integrated into the productive system that in some sectors, such as horse breeding, some knowledge of the gypsy language was essential. The situation began to change in the early sixties, when industrialization caused profound changes in the social and economic context and the job market?. He goes on to highlight that Nazism and later eastern European communism contributed to the end of the nomadic lifestyle.
Gypsies, who often live in outer cities and in difficult economic and social conditions, now mainly work in the building industry, make bricks, play instruments, are scrap dealers and collect paper. At present, in Rome there are two big cooperatives. Phralipè, employs about 250 people and organizes gypsy markets, recycles large rubbish and cleans bins; Romano Pijats, is committed to enhancing gypsy crafts, like copper, clothing, costume jewellery and gold. Both of them manage the ?counter? that helps employment in gypsy communities.
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