WORLD WORLDWIDE FRANCE News Journal Update - (en) France, OCL CA #334 - When the bubbles of the inhuman burst - Champagne slavery (ca, de, fr, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

 

Behind the luxurious and artisanal image of the world of champagne, the
harvest is also the scene of illegal practices. There is no shortage of
cases this year again. ---- Facing Epernay station, which sees tourists
from all over the world disembark daily, it is impossible to miss the
small groups that have been forming for several days in Clevedon Square.
This Wednesday morning, there are only two of them. They went by train
to Epernay to do the harvest, where they sleep under the covered bicycle
parking located opposite the station, while waiting. "People come. I was
offered EUR60 to work from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.» A totally illegal practice,
because it is well below the hourly minimum wage, and possibly
undeclared. The two young people did not accept. Others undoubtedly
have. In the evening, up to 20 men can meet in the square, some after a
tiring day in the vineyards. "There are some who find work, but they are
not always paid. I'll stay there until I find work.»
Around 120,000 grape pickers are employed in Champagne. There are
different collective agreements, depending on whether you work for a
winegrower, a service provider or a house that is a member of the Union
of Champagne Houses (UMC, the major brands). Champagne wine farms are
governed by the national collective agreement for agricultural
production as well as by a territorial collective agreement (collective
agreement of Champagne wine farms), which is why certain exemptions
exist, in particular those linked to time of work. The UMC houses and
service providers fall under different conventional texts.

According to the Rural Code, the harvest is recognized by the
administration as exceptional circumstances within the framework of an
exemption, relating to the maximum weekly working time. Each year, the
UMC and the General Union of Champagne Winegrowers (SGV) collectively
negotiate an extension of the maximum duration of 48 hours, increasing
to 60 hours for seasonal vineyard workers and 72 hours for workers at
the press, transport or cooking. The maximum daily working time is 12
hours, and the minimum rest time between two working days is 11
consecutive hours (it can be reduced to 9 hours for certain positions:
press, vat room, transport of grapes). The paid break is 15 minutes
every 5 hours. Meal time should be at least 1 hour. The travel time
between the farm and the plot constitutes, according to article 8.1.3 of
the national collective agreement for agricultural production, actual
working time. It must be considered as such when the employee has to go
through the company (usual place of work) to pick up a vehicle,
equipment, instructions, products before going to the vineyards.
But for the labor inspectorate and the administrative court of
Châlons-en-Champagne, the harvest no longer constitutes "exceptional
circumstances" allowing the Champenois to suspend weekly working hours:
on September 6, it rejected the appeal of the company Moët-Hennessy
Champagne Services (MHCS), accused of "breaches of the provisions
relating to the minimum duration of weekly rest": "Each week, employees
are entitled to a rest period, to be taken on Sunday, of a minimum
duration of twenty-four consecutive hours.» He also singled out, on the
same day, the SRP Viti-Services for its absence of hourly counting of
hours worked, which constitutes a breach of the Rural Code.

Accommodation in tents is prohibited on the employing winegrower's
plots, but is tolerated on land that does not belong to them.
After negotiations undertaken with social partners, an agreement signed
on May 31, 2023 was reached on a collective exemption from accommodation
for wine growers. The latter will be able, in part, to exempt themselves
from this campaign from the accommodation conditions defined by the
Rural Code. The SGV then requested authorization to apply this agreement
from the 3 Dreets (Regional Directorates of the Economy, Employment,
Labor and Solidarity - in other words the labor inspectorate) for all
departments covering the AOC. A request finally validated, on July 20,
by Dreets Grand Est for the departments of Marne, Aube and Haute-Marne.
The Dreets Hauts-de-France followed on August 3 for Aisne, the Dreets
Ile-de-France on August 11 for Seine-et-Marne.
Acted until 2027, this exemption is only valid, for the 2023 harvest,
for members of the SGV.  It provides for five points of relaxation, and
all the communes of the Champagne appellation are affected by it: in
rooms, the maximum number of authorized workers increases from 6 to 10;
the minimum allocated space increases to 4.5 m2 per occupant, compared
to 9 m2 for the first occupant then 7 m2 for subsequent occupants;
regarding sanitary facilities, a sink is now for 6 people compared to 3
previously, a shower for 8 people instead of 6, as well as a toilet for
8 people rather than 6.
These measures are, however, subject to compensation from the employer,
namely: luggage storage to store suitcases, Wi-Fi access, a room
dedicated to drying clothes, sufficient production of hot water for the
sanitary facilities , an extension of the breakfast time slot, a
two-hour window between returning from work and dinner, maintenance of
the premises and sanitary facilities provided by the employer, as well
as the provision of cleaning equipment. maintenance and cleaning required.
The world of trading had obtained relaxation measures from the Marne
Labor Directorate as of... July 28, 1997. This unequal treatment between
the Champagne Houses and the wine farms seemed to be explained by a
different political strategy.: while the SGV refused the decree of
August 24, 1995 imposing accommodation conditions for workers on wine
and agricultural structures, the UMC lent itself to the game of
negotiations.

This year 2023, four places of accommodation have been the subject of a
prefectural closure order for unsanitary conditions and unworthy conditions:
A building in Mourmelon-le-Petit contained around a hundred camp beds. 5
or 6 people could live together in the same room of 17 m2, and 3 in 8
m2. The stairs were not lit, the fire equipment was not functional and
flammable materials were found in the cellar. There were also pipe leaks
in this building, sometimes near electrical installations. The
prefecture closed the place on September 8, highlighting "a risk of harm
to mental health given the overoccupancy and the risks observed".
71 Ukrainian workers were relocated by their employer in Epernay, Reims
and Aisne, 64 at the Suippes gymnasium and 25 at the Salvation Army
Foundation in Reims. The CGT is demanding the regularization of
undocumented immigrants and above all the payment of their salaries -
because for the moment they have received nothing. A request was also
made for certain grape pickers to see a doctor due to their worrying
state of health.

Another collective accommodation was similarly closed on September 15 in
Vinay, near Epernay. More than 70 grape pickers from Romania slept there
in large tents set up inside a greenhouse. The labor inspection report
speaks of "makeshift bedding", "absence of cleaning and disinfection",
"state of disrepair", "repugnant state of toilets and common areas", "
an electrical risk through direct contact with bare live parts linked to
non-compliance of electrical installations", etc.
In Nesle-le-Repons, an undeclared accommodation place was also closed
after an inspection by the labor inspectorate. Dozens of undocumented
workers employed by a service provider were poorly fed and lived in
"undignified conditions", declared the Châlons-en-Champagne public
prosecutor's office, which opened "two investigations for human
trafficking". The 52 seasonal workers, most of them from West Africa and
undocumented, were urgently relocated to a hotel in this city, as well
as in Reims by the Salvation Army.
Finally, in Cuis, labor inspectors supported by the gendarmes discovered
in a large two-story building, on September 18, 18 grape pickers, most
of them of Bulgarian origin, who were also living there in disastrous
conditions.

Furthermore, in Charly-sur-Marne, the reception area where grape pickers
from the traveling community must settle with their families during the
harvest has created controversy. Winegrowers and their pickers deplore
its state and lack of hygiene. "Terrible odors" linked to the proximity
of the sewage treatment plant "overloaded at the moment", three toilet
cubicles for 50 caravans, "no showers", "unstabilized" ground, the
absence of lighting and electric cables lying on the wet floor: "It's
dangerous, you realize, with children.» According to the Da So Vas
association, "girls were forced to leave, they were sick, they probably
caught a virus". The president of the community of communes of the
canton affirms that hedges have been built on the land in order to
create spaces for the different occupants. She deplores that the trash
cans are not always placed in the containers, assures that the fencing
of the wastewater treatment plant was "ransacked" one year and that that
of the recycling center is regularly cut... and she declares that the
employers have not than housing their staff. The harvesters' employers
say they are paying more and more for this area - EUR300 per caravan for
the two weeks of the harvest, with each additional day being billed
additionally.

This year, the grape harvests in Champagne are once again causing a
scandal!» denounces the CGT,
reporting cases of "unsanitary accommodation, camps in the woods,
without water, without electricity,
without toilet, without shower and moreover without pay.

Since 2018, "the collective accommodation of grape pickers has been
systematically subject to controls," attests the Marne prefecture. In
previous years, rehousing orders issued by labor inspectors were enough
to stop the violations. (...) In addition to the request for
administrative closure, labor inspectors have the possibility of
requesting the imposition of administrative fines for non-compliance
observed in accommodation.» These fines can amount to several thousand
euros per seasonal resident accommodated.
In the most serious cases, "the inspectors can send a report reporting
the offense of accommodation incompatible with human dignity to the
public prosecutor who will decide whether or not to initiate proceedings".

Prosecution can be brought against both the employer and the landlord.
"Human trafficking" is punishable by seven years' imprisonment and a
fine of 150,000 euros.

During the permanent back-to-school committee of regional elected
officials, on September 22 in Strasbourg, the Champagne president of
Grand Est Franck Leroy (center right) spoke about the controversies
triggered by the last harvests. While left-wing Vosges elected official
Sandra Blaise drew her attention to "foreign grape pickers reduced to a
state of slavery", particularly in Nesle-le-Repons, the former mayor of
Epernay denounced the "ignoble traffic" of "a number of crooked
entrepreneurs who take advantage of people's misfortune", and described
these service providers as "bastards" and "thugs" who should be
"arrested and condemned". With 120,000 grape pickers needed during this
period, "it is unfortunately quite easy for these intermediaries to
recruit people and take them to Champagne," added Franck Leroy, who
recalled having been confronted with such a situation when he was mayor.
d'Epernay: "45 Bulgarians housed in two apartments in filthy conditions,
this is exploitation!» If they are the work of only a "tiny minority",
these scandals make "a lot of noise" and "recur every year", which
"sullies the image" of Champagne, he deplored . But while Sandra Blaise
demanded that the champagne houses take "their responsibilities", he
cleared them: "It's not their fault. No major champagne house has been
implicated..."
Legal proceedings mainly target service provider companies: the
principals, that is to say the wine growers who employ them, are not
held jointly and severally responsible for violations of the laws in
force - and, as long as this is the case, the situation will not change.
Thus, in 2022, a couple of co-managers of a wine services company were
sentenced on appeal to three years in prison, including one year, for
"trafficking in human beings" during the harvest in Oiry in 2018; but
the manager of the Veuve Clicquot champagne house (LVMH group), also
implicated, was acquitted.
At the beginning of October, the CGT organized a demonstration in front
of the SGV premises in Epernay. She wants the human trafficking cases
from the last grape harvests to serve as lessons and lead to changes in
legislation. "What happens in the Marne, happens elsewhere," says a
union delegate. In Côte-d'Or, they also had problems with filthy camps.
Here, grape pickers were mistreated, not paid and housed in unworthy
conditions. (...) Today, the principals offload their responsibility to
the service providers and are never concerned by the courts. We must
move forward on this issue. But you have to have the will, in Champagne,
to do it.»
In the end, who "sullies the image of champagne" if not, first of all,
the capitalists?

Camille, October 6, 2023

http://oclibertaire.lautre.net/spip.php?article3981
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