A “double discrimination”. This is what undocumented workers experience, victims of administrative precariousness and their gender, denounced this Friday several unions. The government has opened the door to a new path to regularization with its proposal to create a “shortage trades” residence permit for undocumented workers, as part of its immigration bill due to start. 2023.
In this context, “the situation of women is doubly fragile”, estimated in a joint declaration the inter-union CGT, FO, CFDT, FSU, CFE-CGC, CFTC and Solidaires of the Seine-Saint-Denis department. This precariousness, according to the unions, stems from the fact that undocumented workers “are often in economic sectors where imposed part-time work is legion (…) and undeclared work widespread”, which “makes it difficult or even impossible” to regularization under the 2012 circular known as “Valls”.
Women exploited “with complete impunity”
The latter, which allows the regularization of approximately 30,000 people per year, lists the criteria according to which an undocumented person can apply for a permit at the prefecture: an employee must prove three years of presence in the territory, provide 24 pay as well as a promise of permanent employment.
“Particular attention must be paid to working women, whose eligibility for a number of criteria is more difficult,” the unions said. Especially since these women are recruited “by dark circuits to be able to exploit them with impunity”, notably denounced Jean-Albert Guidou, of the CGT.
“We must break the power of the employer”
Aya, an Ivorian housekeeper, who arrived in France in 2017 and came to testify at the press conference, thus began in 2022 to “clean villas” in the south of France on behalf of a company which transports “ shipments of undocumented” for this purpose, according to the CGT. She claims to have been paid 800 euros per month “without any day off”. When she filed a request for regularization, the latter was not only rejected, but the young woman was also issued an “obligation to leave French territory” (OQTF) accompanied by a ban on returning to the territory. (IRTF).
A “scandal”, resumed Jean-Albert Guidou, according to whom “we must blow up the power of the employer”, in reference to the government’s proposal to allow undocumented workers to file their own application for regularization , without the consent of a boss.