They denounce their “exploitation” without an employment contract or pay slip, franceinfo learned on Tuesday. These workers are demanding accountability from eight subcontractors, but also from the four construction giants, at the head of the construction sites for the 2024 Olympic Games.
Ten undocumented workers, having worked on the sites of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, summon construction giants before the industrial tribunal of Bobigny (Seine-Saint-Denis), according to information from franceinfo Tuesday, June 20. These workers point to the fact of having worked on the sites of the Olympic Games, in particular the Olympic village, without an employment contract, without a pay slip, without paid holidays or overtime. Now regularized, they denounce the“exploitation” of which they say they have been victims, comparing themselves to the workers of the construction sites of the World Cup in Qatar.
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Originally from Mali or the Democratic Republic of Congo, they have lived in France for several years. They demand accountability from their former direct employers, eight subcontracting companies, but also from the four construction giants, Vinci, Eiffage, Spie Batignolles and GCC, the principals of the sites on which they worked.
“If you’re not here on Monday, you take your things”
“Everyone knew that I had no papers. And Spie Batignolles is in charge on the site”testifies 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 keep working despite the pain. France is no better than Qatar.”
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These workers explain that they had to buy their own protective equipment. According to the CGT which defends these workers, the companies giving the orders, such as Vinci or Eiffage, are responsible, because the labor code requires the ordering parties to control what is happening on the site. “We were promised exemplary Olympics sitesrecalls Richard Bloch, of the CGT. In the end, it’s worse than elsewhere, because there is a political imperative: the sites must be delivered on time. So the companies implement all legal or illegal means to deliver on time.” The union assesses the number of workers in this situation at around 100. But Solidéo, the Olympic works delivery company, speaks of less than a hundred cases identified despite 850 checks.
Hearing in October
Asked by franceinfo, Vinci and Eiffage did not respond. The GCC company declined to comment. As for Spie-Batignolles, it ensures that it does everything to ensure that the workers are in order. She also indicates that she did not receive a summons to the industrial tribunal.
The Bobigny industrial tribunal informs franceinfo that “the files have been registered and the date set in consultation with the union defender”. According to the prud’hommes, the hearing is set for early October. The court specifies that summonses are not sent “more than two, three months in advance”. “It is therefore normal that these summons have not yet left.” According to the Labor Code, this type of case should however be judged within a month.
A little over a year ago, a labor inspection check had already revealed the presence of undocumented migrants on the Olympic Village site. The Bobigny prosecutor’s office had opened an investigation for “employment of foreigners without title” and “execution in an organized gang of concealed work”.