AMA Roma fires 64 workers hired through nepotism.

The board of Rome's garbage agency AMA Roma has voted unanimously to sack 64 employees following an enquiry into the so-called Parentopoli scandal which involved the widespread practice of nepotism at the company.

The board's decision, made at an extraordinary meeting on 24 September, affects 41 administrative employees, including several managers, and 23 drivers. The mass sacking follows calls from Rome mayor Ignazio Marino to lay off all AMA staff hired illegally.

The move also follows the jailing in May of Franco Panzironi, the former AMA boss, for his role in the Parentopoli case. Panzironi, an associate of former Rome mayor Gianni Alemanno, was sentenced to five years and three months in prison, relating to the suspect hiring of 841 personnel between 2008 and 2009.

Among those being fired are figures connected to Alemanno who, like Panzironi, is under investigation as part of the ongoing Mafia Capitale case which is focused on the criminal infiltration of city hall through crimes such as bid-rigging, racketeering, aggravated fraud, issuing false invoices, and tax evasion.

Current AMA chief Daniele Fortini described the board's move as "not political revenge, just the application of the law." However the CISL trade union representing AMA workers is set to challenge the decision, claiming that redundancies could not be made collectively and that, based on the rulings of the labour courts, the union will consider the redundancies case by case.

Photo. Il Messaggero