Workers in the champagne sector in France are poorly paid and are forced to sleep outdoors and steal food from neighbors to avoid going hungry, says an investigation published by Guardian. West African and Eastern European workers in the French city of Épernay – home to some of the world’s most luxurious and expensive champagne brands, including Moët & Chandon and Mercier – say they are not paid for their work or are They pay less than what they are entitled to by law.
Guardian has been able to confirm that several workers sleep on the street or in tents, since the producers they work for do not provide them with accommodation in the vineyards. Other employees, staying in a nearby town, say they have been forced to steal food from locals because they cannot buy supplies.
Last year, 300 million bottles of Champagne were exported from the vineyards of northern France, generating revenues of 6 billion euros. However, the champagne industry has been affected by a series of controversies related to the working conditions of grape pickers. Last year, four workers died from suspected heatstroke during the harvest period. In another case – which will go to court early next year – four people, including a vineyard owner, have been charged with human trafficking.
In Épernay, the large headquarters of the most luxurious champagne brands in the world follow one another on Avenue Champagne, where tens of millions of bottles of Champagne stored underground have led the avenue to be baptized as the “richest street in the world.” ”. But a few minutes’ walk away, dozens of workers in charge of picking the champagne grapes are preparing to sleep at the door of the cinema located in front of the central railway station, while another group of pickers from French-speaking African countries collect their belongings hidden among the bushes after returning from a day of harvesting.
Younis says that he has been working in the vineyards for three days, but does not specify where he will sleep tonight: “Outside,” the man says. Like many other workers, Youniss came to the region attracted by the promise of a well-paying job harvesting some of the most expensive grapes in the world, during the months of August and September.
In fact, the cheapest bottle of champagne does not sell for less than 25 euros. Another worker, Nora*, says she was left to sleep on a wet mattress in a tent after heavy rain during this year’s harvest. According to her, they were pressured to work faster. “Every night we wondered if they were going to fire us the next morning or if we would continue working in the vineyards.” According to his payroll, he earns less than the legal minimum in France per hour and is not paid for overtime.
The unions blame the vineyards for continuing to blindly accept cheap labor and the sector as a whole for not prohibiting labor exploitation. They claim that some vineyard owners try to justify themselves by arguing that they are “helping African migrants” by giving them employment, even if it is poorly paid.
“It’s greed. Grapes sell for between 10 and 12 euros per kilo, so it is scandalous to treat workers so badly,” says José Blanco, general secretary of the General Confederation of Labor (CGT) union in the Champagne region. “They consider them machines and not human beings,” he laments.
Less than minimum wage
Kanouté was living in Paris when they told him about “a job in the countryside” that promised 80 euros a day. Originally from Mali, he had been surviving for ten years with a series of low-paid jobs as a cleaner and dishwasher, so he took the opportunity. Just days after starting work in September 2023, Kanouté, 30, says he and more than 50 workers – most of whom were undocumented migrants from West Africa – found themselves going hungry and living in A ruined house in the village of Nesle-le-Repons, on the Champagne tourist route, in northeastern France.
Kanouté relates that they were only given one sandwich a day at mealtime while they were taken from one place to another among the vineyards in the area. They became so hungry that they began to steal food from the fields surrounding the town.
“We worked hard and they promised us a salary and bonuses, but then they gave us nothing,” he says. “We went around neighbors’ houses ringing doorbells and asking for cigarettes.” Sometimes, when the neighbors saw us arriving, they closed the doors. “It was a blow to our dignity,” adds the man.
Salaries below the minimum
The legal minimum wage in France is 9.23 euros per hour after deductions, which means that workers should have been paid between 100 and 110 euros per day, much more than the 80 euros promised by recruiters. Kanouté claims that the suppliers ended up paying him 200 euros for a week of work. Most of the other workers apparently returned to Paris without having been paid for their work.
“They were treated like dogs,” says a retired winegrower who lives across the street from the workers’ house in the village. In his opinion, “those who do that are not winegrowers: they are exploiters. It is a shame, it gives a bad image of Champagne.”
Unions say conditions in the champagne sector are getting worse, with labor suppliers offering poor conditions and low wages due to winegrowers’ insistence on cheap labour. Blanco points out that it is difficult to hold certain wineries responsible for the exploitation of workers, due to a “Russian dolls” system in which “a company subcontracts and so on.”
In the case of Kanouté, the neighbors notified the police. The head of a labor supplier, two of her agents and one of the winegrowers who used him have been accused of human trafficking, inadequate accommodation and non-existent or insufficient remuneration. They are due to appear in court in March.
The ‘law of silence’
In Épernay, staff at the Palace cinema, which is located next to the train station, have assured Guardian that finding workers sleeping on the ground and outdoors during the harvest was a common situation. The dozen migrants who were found resting in their facilities, maintain that they were only looking for a place to shelter from the rain.
“This year it has been so cold that we went home wondering if they would still be alive in the morning,” explains Elise, who has worked in the cinema for two years and says she saw minibuses dropping off workers every night. “They [el ayuntamiento] They only moved the workers because now we have a lot of tourists, but they should find a house for them. It’s horrible. We asked our manager and gave them popcorn, soda and M&Ms, but we were aware that we were not giving them real food.”
A few kilometers from Épernay, Guardian spoke to a group of Polish workers. They told us that they worked 10 hours a day and showed us employment contracts that stipulate that they are paid 11.40 euros per hour. That amount is below the legal minimum of 11.65 euros per hour before deductions. According to French legislation, workers must receive 25% more for each extra hour if they work more than 35 hours per week, a percentage that rises to 50% if they work more than 43 hours per week.
Unions have called on the industry to start adding a scale of minimum working conditions to its stipulations on what can be verified as champagne. “When we denounce what is happening in the region, it is as a sheepish source, the law of silence prevails. Everyone is silent. The image of champagne is that of a party and luxury product. “People don’t want to think about reports of human trafficking,” says Blanco.
In statements to Guardianthe Champagne Committee has asked the authorities to intensify controls and severely punish any abuse. “When these terms are associated [trata de seres humanos] to our region, we cannot help but be scandalized. “These shameful practices do not reflect the commitment of a passionate profession and zero tolerance must be applied,” he says in a statement.
In this sense, he reminded winegrowers that “subcontracting and using a service provider to hire temporary workers cannot cost less than direct employment. Low prices can be an indication of dubious practices and should set off all the alarms.”
*Nora’s name is not her real name
Article translated by Emma Reverter
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