“France is no better than Qatar”. While the Gulf country, which organized the Football World Cup in 2022, has been widely criticized for the exploitation of undocumented workers before and during the competition, as well as for the particularly high death rate on its construction sites, the France could face the same criticism. According to information from Franceinfo, ten workers are summoning Spie Batignolles, Vinci, Eiffage and GCC, as well as eight of their subcontractors, before the industrial tribunal of Bobigny (Seine-Saint-Denis). The hearing is scheduled for the beginning of October.
On Franceinfo, these ten undocumented workers, who have since been regularized, accuse their various employers of not having drawn up any employment contract, pay slip, or granting paid leave and overtime. “Everyone knew that I had no papers. And it is Spie Batignolles who is in charge on the site, shares Moussa, one of the workers. “One day, I had pain in my knee. I asked my boss if I could take a day or two off. He said to me: “If you are not here on Monday, you take your things”. I had to continue working despite the pain. »
A hearing in October
The four construction giants, Vinci, Eiffage, Spie Batignolles and GCC are on the dock as principals of the sites on which these workers, originally from Mali or the Democratic Republic of Congo and living in France for several years, worked. “We were promised exemplary Olympics sites, recalls Richard Bloch, of the CGT on Franceinfo. In the end, it’s worse than elsewhere, because there is a political imperative: the sites must be delivered on time. So companies implement all legal or illegal means to deliver on time. “For the union, some 100 employees would be in this situation, but Solidéo, the Olympic works delivery company, speaks of less than a hundred cases identified despite 850 checks.
The presence of undocumented workers on construction sites for the 2024 Olympics is nothing new. Previously, a check on the Olympic Village had already revealed this practice. Following the labor inspection report, the Bobigny prosecutor’s office had opened an investigation for “employment of foreigners without title” and “execution in an organized gang of concealed work”.