“Migrant workers describe squalor and exploitation on Champagne vineyards”

Authorities in France's Champagne region are investigating conditions on its famed vineyards after seasonal workers were found to be lodged in squalid accommodation. Now preparing to testify against their former employer, labourers told RFI about their gruelling experiences picking some of the world's most expensive grapes…

A spot check found the lodgings, in the commune of Nesle-le-Repons, to be unsanitary and unfit for purpose. Seasonal workers, mostly migrants from countries in West Africa, were sleeping on makeshift beds among trailing electrical cables and "disgusting" bathroom facilities, according to labour inspectors…

He and the other labourers, many of them without French work permits, were recruited by word of mouth, he told RFI's Marie Casadebaig. They were promised two weeks' work harvesting grapes, with food and accommodation included.

Instead, Soumaré said, they toiled nearly 12 hours a day with barely any food or water…

The workers have since been rehoused by local authorities and prosecutors have opened an investigation into suspected human trafficking.

The men's employers, who ran a company contracted by champagne producers to provide temporary labour, face up to ten years in prison if they are charged and convicted…