French champagne makers under pressure to protect pickers after harvest deaths
With the annual harvest underway in France's Champagne region, working conditions are under scrutiny after the death of four seasonal grape-pickers in 2023.
Every year, around 120,000 seasonal workers are hired to handpick grapes that are grown across 34,000 hectares of the eastern region, known for its trademark sparkling wine.
But working conditions during the September-October harvest are infamously poor, especially for migrant labourers.
Maxime Toubart, who heads the Champagne winegrowers’ association SGV, says that this year, the "entire sector is mobilised" to improve the situation.
'Harvest of shame'
Unions dubbed 2023 "the harvest of shame" after the death of four people due to sunstroke and reports of migrant workers living in appalling conditions.
Since then, three temporary housing facilities have been shut down for being "dirty" and "unfit for habitation".
In November 2023, Prosecutors opened two probes into suspected human trafficking after around 200 Ukrainian and other foreign workers were found living in poor conditions during routine checks.
One contractor will be taken to court in March 2025 as a result of the first investigation. The second is still underway.
Migrant workers describe squalor and exploitation on Champagne vineyards
Local outreach
This year, 22 labour inspectors and 84 police have been deployed to oversee the harvest on a daily basis, according to the local Marne prefecture.
Read more on RFI English
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