During the 2023 harvest in Champagne, four grape pickers died during a
harvest marked by extreme heat. ---- Background ---- At the same time,four shelters were closed by prefectural decree for unsanitary
conditions, including one in Mourmelon-le-Petit (160 people housed,
mostly Ukrainians) and another in Nesle-le-Repons (73 undocumented
immigrants of Senegalese, Malian, Sudanese, or Mauritanian origin,
according to officials' calculations).
The one that will generate the most talk is that of Nesle-le-Repos,
whose trial took place in June (the results were communicated in July).
It was following an inspection by the labor inspectorate that the
prefect of Marne issued an order on September 15, 2023, to close an
accommodation in Nesle-le-Repons that did not comply with the
regulations regarding collective accommodation. Inside, dozens of
undocumented workers, employed by a service provider to carry out the
grape harvests in Champagne, poorly housed and poorly fed. There are 57
victims identified in the so-called "harvest of shame" case, an
expression used by the CGT Champagne inter-union at the time of the events.
First trial
The trial of three individuals accused of human trafficking involving 57
seasonal workers took place in June 2025. "Dirty and dilapidated
toilets, sleeping on mattresses, sometimes inflatable, on the ground,
living and eating areas located outside, exposed to the elements..." The
list of violations listed by the public prosecutor of the
Châlons-en-Champagne public prosecutor's office provides an insight into
the appalling living conditions in which around fifty seasonal workers
from Nesles-le-Repons were housed, on the fringes of the 2023 harvest.
The 57 undocumented workers, supported by the CGT, are present at the
trial and will testify. "We were mistreated, we didn't eat, we didn't
have the right to speak. In a word, we were like slaves." "I would never
have thought that people who make champagne would house us in a place
where even animals wouldn't feel comfortable. Everything was dirty. We
couldn't wash, and to cook rice, we had to make a wood fire because
there were no gas stoves..." "Today, we are demanding compensation for
the harm suffered. We still haven't received a single cent for the work
we did." "What we went through there was truly horrible. Frankly, this
experience traumatized us. We couldn't get any psychological support
afterward, because when you don't have papers, you have no rights.
Today, we want justice to be done."
In this sordid affair, three individuals have been summoned to answer
the charge of "human trafficking." They are the manager of the labor
service company Anavim, based in Paris, as well as two men who
participated in the recruitment of seasonal workers. Another defendant
has been summoned in this case. He is a champagne producer based in
Mareuil-le-Port, near Dormans. He is accused of having used the service
company Anavim to carry out his harvests. He will therefore have to
answer the charges of "using the services of a person carrying out
undeclared work" and "using the services of an employer of a foreigner
not authorized to work."
In this extraordinary affair, the 57 harvesters will not be the only
alleged victims, as eleven organizations have also filed a civil suit.
At the forefront is the Champagne Committee, representing the entire
industry. Representing the workers, the CGT union, which has long
supported seasonal workers in Champagne and Paris, has also filed a
civil suit. "In Champagne, we cannot harvest grapes with human misery,"
argued the general secretary of the CGT Champagne inter-union. Other
organizations also wanted to get involved in this trial alongside
representatives of the champagne world: the Human Rights League, the
Committee Against Modern Slavery, and the MSA Île-de-France.
Harvesters in Nesle-le-Repons
Numerous other charges have been brought against the manager of the
Paris-based labor supply company Anavim, including "carrying out
undeclared work," "employing a foreigner without a work permit,"
"subjecting several vulnerable or dependent people to undignified
accommodation conditions," and "non-existent or insufficient
remuneration of vulnerable or dependent people."
For the manager of the service provider Anavim, due to her attitude
throughout the trial - "largely seeking to avoid responsibility" - it
was established that there was a risk of repetition of the events. Her
company was dissolved, and she was sentenced to a fine of 20,000 euros
and four years in prison, two of which were suspended, with a committal
order. She has been incarcerated since August 4.
Accused of having participated in the recruitment of grape harvesters
and their supervision in poor conditions, the two men who participated
in the recruitment of seasonal workers were sentenced to three years'
imprisonment, one of which was suspended, and two years' imprisonment,
one of which was suspended. They were respectively forced to pay a fine
of EUR5,000 and EUR3,000, were banned from staying in the Marne
department for five years, and were also banned from carrying and
possessing a weapon for five years.
The fourth defendant, Sarl Cerseuillat de la Gravelle, which used
Anavim's services, was fined EUR75,000.
The three main defendants were ordered to pay various fines to the civil
parties, 4,000 euros per harvester to the 57 plaintiffs, but also - most
often - 2,000 euros, including 1,000 euros for defense costs, to the six
associations and/or industry players who had joined as civil parties,
including the Human Rights League and the CGT-Champagne inter-union. The
fine to be paid to the Champagne wine interprofessional committee is
6,000 euros, including 1,000 euros for defense costs, in the name of the
damage caused to the "image" of Champagne.
The manager's lawyer said: "Everyone is buying their virginity at the
expense of my client and sees her as the perfect culprit. But the
industry has long turned a blind eye to its own practices." He has
announced he will appeal.
Difficult to establish the path of the grapes
The manager of the Cerseuillat de la Gravelle company in Mareuil-le-Port
said: "I myself am a service provider for more than 40 clients in
Champagne," reacted the manager of the Cerseuillat de la Gravelle
company. "I pick grapes for part of the village, winegrowers, but also
members of the merchants. At my pressing center alone, I have 14
Champagne houses that come to collect grape juice." The Champagne
service provider works with more than 300 seasonal workers during the
harvest, including around fifty hired through the Anavim company. This
is a cascading service system, which does not allow for the destination
of the harvested grapes to be established with certainty.
Cerseuillat de la Gravelle had been working with Anavim since 2022. The
Champagne-based service provider paid Anavim's services at a rate of
EUR0.45 per kilo of grapes picked, well below market prices. It then
re-invoiced its Champagne-based customers EUR0.55 to EUR0.60 per kilo of
grapes. Asked whether this low rate should have raised concerns, the
Champagne-based service provider replied: "It is very difficult to find
labor in Champagne during the harvest. The documents provided by Anavim
seemed to me to be correct. I did not ask any further questions."
According to rumors, the Cerseuillat de la Gravelle company hired the
manager of the service provider Anavim before her incarceration.
Another trial has just taken place on practices in the champagne
industry. A former Marne winemaker (vines downgraded in 2020 by the
interprofessional organization for breaching the specifications), based
in Billy-sur-Aisne (Aisne), near Soissons, and in Champlat-et-Boujacourt
(Marne), had purchased wines from Spain and Ardèche, adding liqueur and
carbon dioxide before affixing the champagne label. He admitted to
having produced between 500,000 and 600,000 bottles of fake champagne
between 2022 and 2023, and was sentenced to 4 years in prison, including
2 years and 6 months suspended, as well as a EUR100,000 fine, this
Tuesday, September 2, 2025, by the Reims Criminal Court. His wife
received a two-year suspended prison sentence and a EUR100,000 fine.
Leclerc had purchased 200,000 bottles in 2022 (which were resold for
EUR8.50). The customs aspect of the case-concerning exports of the fake
champagne-has been postponed until February 3, 2026. The entrepreneur
also faces another legal proceeding for accusations of sexual violence
brought by several of his former employees, five of whom have filed
complaints.
The scandalous practices have continued since 2023
Following this "harvest of shame," a new framework for seasonal
employment in Champagne has been available on the Comité Champagne's
interprofessional website since August 2024. "Winegrowers and Champagne
houses wish to reexpress and concretize their collective commitment to a
responsible seasonal employment policy," emphasizes the foreword,
co-signed by the Syndicat général des vignerons de la Champagne and the
Union des maisons de Champagne. The framework is divided into four
themes, identified the day after the harvest as the Committee's "major
projects": recruitment and employment, health and safety conditions at
work, accommodation and transport, as well as the conditions for
providing services.
Accommodation sites were closed in 2024. A camp closed in Avize in the
Côte des Blancs on September 19, 2024, two others evacuated on September
23, one again in Avize and the other in Soulières, 20 km south of
Épernay, and, finally, a last collective accommodation condemned in
Bisseuil, associated commune of Aÿ-Champagne, on September 24.
Two hotels in Vitry-le-François, which hosted 60 grape harvesters
(Bulgarians and Romanians) and 96 (Polish), respectively, were subject
to administrative closure orders on August 29, 2025, and September 1.
The 60 were relocated to a hotel in Soissons. For the mayor of
Vitry-le-François, "A few years ago, we came across the winegrowers1.
Today, we see what that has led to; there is a whole industry that has
been set up to bring back workers, and it is worse than what existed
before."
Two teams of eight harvesters each, employed by Veuve Cliquot, were
staying at an approved campsite. The DREETS (Regional Directorate for
the Economy, Employment, Labor, and Solidarity) of the Grand Est region
prohibits the accommodation of harvesters in tents, even at an approved
campsite. "Employers cannot accommodate seasonal workers in tents in the
Grand Est region, regardless of whether this accommodation is organized
within a campsite-type structure or not. The DREETS does not issue any
exemptions to this effect." In the case of the accommodation of the
Veuve Clicquot harvesters, the fact that it is an approved and
classified campsite does not change the regulations. The harvesters may
have put their own names on their reservations, but "from the moment the
employer participates in organizing the accommodation, regardless of
how, they are considered responsible," emphasizes the DREETS.
On August 27, the labor inspectorate conducted an inspection in Epernay
of a camp housing about ten grape harvesters at 85 Avenue de Champagne2,
at the entrance to the town. This address is the headquarters of the
company SARL Champion Devaux, registered as a winery. Housed in tents,
the camp was unregistered and did not meet health standards. The owner
of the land and employee of the company employing these grape harvesters
is a municipal councilor from the majority (elected since 2008 who
resigned following the revelations). In the prefectural decree signed on
August 27 by the prefect of Marne, we can read that following an initial
observation carried out on August 26 and an inspection carried out the
following day, labor inspectors noted "the absence of a declaration of
collective accommodation" and non-conformities "with regard to
accommodation in tents, electrical installations, the layout of sanitary
facilities, toilets, furniture, and the general hygiene of the
premises." The municipal councilor rehoused the grape harvesters "in
accommodation rented on Airbnb, at my expense."
The labor inspectorate's intervention on August 26 and 27 was prompted
by a report from the CGT (General Confederation of Labour). The union
has been traveling the vineyards for several years, especially since
2023, to alert harvesters of their rights. The delegates also monitor
illegal encampments. They were the ones who alerted the labor
inspectorate on August 26 regarding the camp at 85 Avenue de Champagne.
The CGT (General Confederation of Labour) denounced "around fifteen
encampments this year. And five have been dismantled."
In Epernay, the covered bicycle parking lot opposite the train station,
where mostly undocumented people used to sleep while waiting to find
work, albeit at a lower rate than the official rate, is empty. The
location has simply been changed to make it less visible.
These trials have been appealed. More are yet to come. The case of the
57 African undocumented immigrants will be examined by the labor court.
There is little chance that they will ever see the EUR4,000 fine imposed
on the defendants by the court. It is planned that their temporary
residence permits will be converted into 10-year permits. It should be
noted that no principal has been convicted.
Camille, September 2025
On the same subject: See CA 334 October 2023 Slavery in Champagne: when
the bubbles of the inhuman burst
1. The majority of the grape harvesters were housed, but drastic
standards on accommodation conditions meant that the vast majority
stopped hosting and resorted to subcontracting
2. The Avenue de Champagne in Épernay is one of the richest arteries in
the world. This straight avenue of more than a kilometer, listed as a
UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2015, has been lined since the 19th
century with sumptuous private mansions and the luxurious headquarters
of the greatest Champagne merchants. At a depth of more than thirty
meters and at a constant temperature of around 11°, one hundred and ten
kilometers of cellars carved by hand into a chalk bank where more than
200 million bottles age form a veritable city beneath the city.
http://oclibertaire.lautre.net/spip.php?article4530
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