France 2 devotes an evening to the working world on Tuesday, notably with the broadcast at 9:10 p.m. of this film which looks back on the sacrifices of workers, the armed arms of French industrialization.
“If we retire you at 50, it’s not to please you. It’s because you’re screwed.” The words (and pain) of Aimable Patin, a miner for nearly thirty years, tell of a life of toil. The hours spent at work, toiling, gradually destroyed the bodies. These lives are told with finesse in the documentary We the workers, directed by Fabien Béziat and Hugues Nancy. Broadcast on Tuesday October 10 on France 2, the film returns, with the help of archive images, to the major role of these workers, at the cost of great sacrifices, since the beginnings of industrialization.
These men and women talk about their struggles, their hopes and their working conditions. They immerse viewers in a world that is often invisible, even if the silhouettes of workers were the first to be immortalized in 1895 by the cameras of the Lumière brothers, inventors of the cinematograph.
Figures that remain frightening
Mines, textile factories, steelworks sites or automobile production lines… Whatever the sectors in which workers operate, they are exposed to heavy loads, dust and other chemicals. Christian Corouge, now retired, was responsible for the “trimming”, the name given to the installation of fabric coverings inside Peugeot cars in the Sochaux factory (Doubs). For him, the term “hardship” is not an empty word. “With the pad, the occupational doctors said: ‘After six years, you will have a worn joint.’ When you stay there for 25 years, it’s no longer wear and tear. You live with the leftovers.” confides the ex-worker in the film. “When a miner reaches 55, it’s because he’s strong”continues Aimable Patin.
The difficulties linked to working conditions do not stop at the factory gates. They enter homes and have an impact on daily life, as Christian Corouge explains. “For me, it was mainly hand pain (…) I still have terrible pain at night.”
“It’s almost humiliation to tell myself that my working conditions can influence my sex life, my love life, my life with my children.”
Christian Corouge, former worker at Peugeotin the documentary “We the Workers”
Above all, the frequency of workplace accidents which devastate the working world is of concern. Even today, in France, nearly two people die every day on average due to a professional accident, according to Health Insurance. uhe workplace accident prevention campaign was launched on September 25 to alert public opinion.
The documentary We the workers, directed by Fabien Béziat and Hugues Nancy is broadcast Tuesday October 10 on France 2 at 9:10 p.m. and on the france.tv platform.