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“Everyone turns a blind eye”: how the Breton market gardening sector uses African workers who are often undocumented and underpaid
“Everyone turns a blind eye”: how the Breton market gardening sector uses African workers who are often undocumented and underpaid – (SPECIAL SUBJECT / FRANCE 2)
Migrants from Africa, often without residence permits, have become an essential part of the Breton market gardening industry. In the Lannion area, none of the producers who employ them agreed to answer the questions of “Special Envoy”, but a labor inspector wanted to denounce the hypocrisy which reigns, according to her, in the sector.
In Brittany, from July to October, it is the harvest of the famous Paimpol coconuts. As there are no longer enough French students and retirees, market gardeners are increasingly resorting to foreign workers. In this field near Lannion where a team of “Special Envoys” went, sitting on a chair seven hours a day picking beans, Malians, Cameroonians, Guineans… all the workers are African.
“Africans don’t know any stupid jobs. You, the French, are perhaps ashamed of working in the coconuts, but we don’t choose.”
An African agricultural workeremployed in a bean field in Brittany
They claim to be declared by the owner of the field who employs them, but none seem to have French papers. Could they be employed illegally?
The entire Breton market gardening sector uses these African, Afghan or Syrian workers, who have become “permanent seasonal workers”. No local producer wants to openly acknowledge this, and all those contacted by journalists refused to answer their questions. The local cooperative even warned certain market gardeners, by SMS, of the presence of a team of “Special Envoy” seeking to “recover information concerning foreign labor”, with this advice: “Be vigilant and send back towards the cooperative”. She also declined interview requests…
Only one labor inspector agreed to speak, on condition of anonymity. She wants to denounce the hypocrisy that reigns, according to her, in the sector: “Everyone closes their eyes. It’s not just state services, it’s farmers, it’s everyone.“
“There is no French workforce who wants to do this work, because it is not remunerative.”
A labor inspectorwho testifies anonymously in “Special Envoy”
The inspector does not deny that farmers declare their employees, but without having the means to verify their identity. Which is not easy, she explains, because these foreign workers “are not necessarily untitled, but they have ‘aliases’ …” (for example, they use the identity card of a loved one).
Workers kept in precarious conditions
According to her, many producers have an interest in keeping these foreign workers in precarious conditions, often underpaid or even exploited. “How do you want to claim under these conditions?” she asks. If we give him 500 euros instead of the 1,200 euros due (the picking worker is supposed to receive the equivalent of the minimum wage, or even more, depending on the weight of the foodstuffs harvested), “he has to accept. Who is he going to complain to? We’re going to tell him ‘But it’s not even you, sir, it’s your alias!’ It’s a no-man’s land.”
Extract from “Without papers but not without work”, a report to be seen in “Envoyéspecial” on December 7, 2023.
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