‘Illegal labor in construction of Olympic village in Paris’
BY| Pledge times
llegal workers are being used in the construction of the venues for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. That writes newspaper Le monde after own research.
At the Olympic construction site, the newspaper found illegal workers from Mali, among others, who anonymously tell their story. Several of them work without a valid work permit. Pay slips and vacation days would also be missing. Although they do not have valid papers, residence permits of compatriots who do live legally in France are used.
Under the so-called ‘working under alias’ system, a copy sent via Whatsapp would be sufficient for an access pass for the construction site. There would be hardly any supervision at the construction site.
The research comes at a time when the theme of labor exploitation in the run-up to sporting events is high on the international agenda. The stadiums and infrastructure for the World Cup in Qatar, which is currently underway, were created through the exploitation of migrant workers.
Several thousand workers and management are employed on the French construction site. According to sources from the French newspaper, the majority comes from West Africa, but Turks, Portuguese and Arab countries are also well represented. French workers would hardly be there. A representative of the labor union who assists the workers describes a “haze of companies and subcontractors”.
For a daily wage of 80 euros, working days are sometimes worked between 5 and 9 pm. “We don’t have a choice,” says one worker Le monde. “We are here to survive.” Contracts are hardly discussed among themselves. The newspaper did not say how many people without papers it would be exactly.
‘Exemplary event’
The disturbances in France are striking. Solideo, the organization responsible for Olympic and Paralympic venues and infrastructures, expressed its desire to be “an exemplary event in economic and social terms”. In a comment to Le monde the organization assures on Tuesday that it has strengthened its internal procedures and regulations in recent months. But, adds its director, “cases will always slip through the cracks.”
The investigation of Le monde comes months after a labor inspection at the Olympic site also revealed an illegal work situation involving several Malians. During previous checks, illegal workers were asked to hide. Solideo dismissed previous disturbances around illegal labor as a ‘contract holder who was a bit lax’. The contract was subsequently terminated. In June, a preliminary investigation into illegal work was already initiated by the French public prosecutor’s office.
Coincidentally, France’s parliament is holding a debate on immigration on Tuesday, discussing a bill that could facilitate the regulation of undocumented workers in stressed sectors.
The Olympic village, which is to be built north of Paris, will be the setting for the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Within about six hundred days, it should become the home base for some 14,000 Olympic participants and their staff.
