With the annual harvest underway in France's Champagne region, working conditions are under scrutiny after the death of four seasonal grape-pickers in 2023.
Every year, around 120,000 seasonal workers are hired to handpick grapes that are grown across 34,000 hectares of the eastern region, known for its trademark sparkling wine.
But working conditions during the September-October harvest are infamously poor, especially for migrant labourers.
Maxime Toubart, who heads the Champagne winegrowers’ association SGV, says that this year, the "entire sector is mobilised" to improve the situation.
'Harvest of shame'
Unions dubbed 2023 "the harvest of shame" after the death of four people due to sunstroke and reports of migrant workers living in appalling conditions.
Since then, three temporary housing facilities have been shut down for being "dirty" and "unfit for habitation".
In November 2023, Prosecutors opened two probes into suspected human trafficking after around 200 Ukrainian and other foreign workers were found living in poor conditions during routine checks.
One contractor will be taken to court in March 2025 as a result of the first investigation. The second is still underway.
Migrant workers describe squalor and exploitation on Champagne vineyards
Local outreach
This year, 22 labour inspectors and 84 police have been deployed to oversee the harvest on a daily basis, according to the local Marne prefecture.
Local NGOs are also on the ground – including the Epernay Prevention Club, which aims to protect vulnerable and marginalised groups, and is working in tandem with national employment agency France Travail to provide outreach to seasonal workers arriving at Epernay train station.
"As soon as people get off the train from Paris, or the north, we meet them and tell them where to go to get recruited," the club's director, Corinne Vallard, told France 3 television.
"This means they avoid having to hang around in the park all day, where they risk being exploited by unscrupulous would-be employers."
In the cellars of Maison Ruinart, the oldest champagne producer in France
Sophie Degrave, a social worker with the NGO, told reporters that migrant workers were suspicious of their presence at first and often reluctant to talk.
"They have trouble telling us who they are, where they’re from, what they are trying to do and whether or not they have work papers," she says. Only gradually, she says, do they realise that she and her colleagues are there to help, not turn them in to the authorities.
France Travail sets up contracts for those who have come to find work, according to Christelle Marquez, director of the employment agency's local branch.
Workers' rights
Meanwhile unions are focusing on making sure conditions are respected once workers reach the vineyards.
For the second year running, the local CGT trade union has been visiting vineyards and handing out flyers to inform grape-pickers of their rights, including the minimum hourly wage, the limit on working hours and mandatory breaks.
The leaflets come in eight languages including Polish, Russian, Ukrainian, Italian and French.
"If they have problems, there are emergency numbers and we will support them," said CGT representative Sandrine Calvi. "French and foreign employees must have the same rights."
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According to the rules, harvesters are paid the gross hourly minimum wage for days of ten hours maximum and are entitled to one day of weekly rest.
Harvest contracts usually run for one month and are renewed if necessary.
Jose Blanco, secretary general of the Champagne CGT, said some of the migrant workers had been offered €30 per day when they should be making around €80.
Deputy secretary general Philippe Cothenet said the union would also send representatives to inspect working conditions.
"Hundreds and hundreds of service companies come to Champagne during the harvest period and some are unscrupulous about labour laws, so we are always careful," he told public media France Bleu.
Subcontractors 'like mushrooms'
Unions point to the proliferation of intemediaries offering to recruit short-term labour on behalf of producers, who sometimes turn a blind eye to working and living conditions.
Such subcontractors pop up "like mushrooms solely for the harvest, and take advantage of the misery of seasonal workers to exploit them", said Mélanie Matoux, who represents the FO union at the Burtin champagne house.
Many fail to provide proper housing for the workers they bring in, the CGT's Blanco told news agency AFP.
"We are still finding camps in the woods," he said.
Established champagne houses insist that they take care of their temporary workforce.
Moët & Chandon says 1,900 of its 3,500 seasonal workers are provided with modern lodgings close to the vines. On average, workers there earn between €1,200 and €2,000 for a 10-day stint.
(with AFP)
