In the Marne department in northeastern France, a supposed case of modern slavery in the Champagne vineyards has come to light. A collective accommodation place for agricultural workers was closed a few days ago by the prefecture. Foreign workers lived there in deplorable conditions.
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Makeshift beds, an unsanitary building, disgusting toilets in the absence of cleaning, an electrical risk… The Marne prefecture relies on the labor inspection report to justify the closure of collective accommodation of grape pickers in Nesle-le-Repons.
During the inspection carried out on September 14, around sixty beds were discovered in these accommodations, occupied mainly by workers from West Africa (Guinea, Mali, Mauritania and Senegal). The inspection also revealed that they did not have an employment contract.
If the name of the service provider who accommodated these seasonal workers is known, that of the Champagne house which employed them is not. The workers did not know the name of their boss. An investigation was opened for human trafficking. The prefecture also ordered the owner, also the workers’ employer, to take responsibility for rehousing the employees present on the sites concerned.
José Blanco, general secretary of the CGT champagne inter-union, lambasted AFP “ omerta » which reigns “in the world of champagne”. THE ” people are exploited ” but ” everyone closes their eyes because it’s the most expensive grape in the world “, he regretted. “ On the label, in the composition of the champagne, you will have to put the percentage of human misery “, mocked José Blanco.
In the same department of Marne, it was the working conditions of the grape pickers which caused a stir a few days ago. The prefecture confirmed the death of at least three of them in the vineyards, during the intense heat episode at the beginning of the month. Here too, an investigation is underway. In past years, there have already been cases of modern slavery in the Champagne vineyardsometimes punishable by prison as in 2020.
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