prison for having exploited seasonal workers

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On the accused bench, a 44 -year -old woman, from Kyrgyzstan, received four years in prison, including two farms. She was found guilty of human trafficking, of having employed in unworthy conditions its 57 seasonal workers. His rights, two people accused of recruiting the harvest, are sentenced to one year in prison. “It is a decision that has the merit of being historic in severity, in exemplarity, the dissemination of the message to all. The court said it during its deliberation: it was also necessary that everyone takes the measure of the situation“, Commented Maître Maxime Cessieux, the lawyer for the victims.

Two years ago in Champagne, the victims, most of them undocumented, from Mali, Senegal or Mauritania, were housed in a barn without water or electricity. The toilets were unusable and the food sometimes damaged. Local residents had given the alert. The convictions today represent for these workers the end of a ordeal. “”This is good news, really, we are very happy, we are proud too“Said one of them.

4,000 euros for each victim

The defendants will also have to pay 4,000 euros to each victim. On the unions side, the trial should make it possible to set a strict framework on the working conditions in Champagne. “”What is necessary, concretely, is what we have been hammered for years: to register in the AOC Champagne on the conditions of accommodation and remuneration of seasonal workers, and of course a single collective agreement for all the workers in Champagne“Explains José Bianco, secretary general of the intersyndical CGT Champagne.

Next step for the 57 victims: the trial at the industrial tribunal to perceive the wages which had been promised to them.