Report France
Olympic Games 2024: undocumented Malians worked on a construction site in the athletes' village
Audio 02:34
The logo of the 2024 Olympic Games, which will be held in Paris.
© REUTERS / Charles Platiau
By: Marine de La Moissonnière Follow
3 mins
The Paris 2024 Olympics sites had to be exemplary.
A social charter was even signed in June 2018 between the public authorities, employers' organizations and trade unions.
But the reality looks somewhat different.
At the end of March, the labor inspectorate discovered that eight Malians without papers were working on the construction of the athletes' village, in Saint-Denis, north of Paris.
They were employed by a subcontractor of GCC, a large construction group.
A classic in this industry.
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Under the right eye, Sidi Tounnkara has a mark.
The scar from an injury he got while working on the construction site of the village of the Olympics.
When he goes to the hospital for treatment, this 32-year-old Malian is careful not to say under what circumstances it happened: on the orders of his boss, a man who regularly threatens him.
“
Each time, he tells us that if we don't work, there are a lot of undocumented people and therefore he can fire us at any time.
And that if we're not happy, we can walk out.
»
Alassane Traoré worked for the same employer, but on other sites.
He too describes unworthy working conditions.
The hardest tasks systematically go to undocumented workers.
“
You can spend the day, even the week, working with jackhammers or with the mass that weighs 10 kg.
Often, we also work in asbestos sites.
We are often exposed to a lot of risks.
Well, we still have a helmet and gloves.
Apart from that, the work clothes, it's up to us to have them, including the safety shoes too.
The boss, he takes advantage of your situation.
»
Systematic use of undocumented migrants in the construction industry in France
Added to this are unpaid overtime, unpaid meal and transportation allowances.
Not to mention that undocumented workers do not contribute to retirement or unemployment.
Alassane Traoré and his comrades ended up saying stop and pushing the door of the CGT union in Bobigny, as explained by Jean-Albert Guidou, responsible for foreign workers in Seine-Saint-Denis.
"
As soon as I found out that there were the Olympics, I said to myself
: 'It's going to get us some extra work.'
For a simple reason, it is that the system and organization of the construction industry in France, with the systematic use of subcontracting, not technical subcontracting, but simply subcontracting which brings labor that can be worked at will, flexible, cheap, leads to the existence on the construction sites of very, very many undocumented workers.
There, it is the responsibility of the big construction companies, because they are the ones who use subcontracting, who do not monitor their sites or their subcontractors.
»
For its part, GCC replies that it had no way of knowing that one of its subcontractors was working undeclared workers.
Legally, the company cannot control their papers, explains one of its representatives.
A labor inspection investigation targeting the head of the subcontracting company is currently underway.
The Malians, themselves, obtained their regularization quickly, but the fight continues.
With the help of the CGT, they intend to seize the Prud'hommes to be paid for their overtime.
They also ask GCC to hire them on permanent contracts.
A first meeting took place on May 24.
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France
Olympics 2024
Employment and Labor
Paris