Overview

• The trial began June 19 at the Châlons-en-Champagne court against a recruitment firm, its manager, two recruiters and a wine production company charged with human trafficking and facilitating undeclared work.
• Nearly 60 harvest workers from Mali, Senegal and Mauritania were found in September 2023 living in overcrowded, unsanitary lodgings and forced to labor up to eleven hours a day with minimal provisions.
• Workers were promised €80 per day but received no wages, prompting lawyer Maxime Cessieux to describe their treatment as ‘slavery’.
• Fifty-seven of the affected workers, including nine women and a minor, have joined the case as civil parties seeking restitution and recognition of their rights.
• Human rights groups warn that highly regulated champagne production conceals recurring labor abuses, recalling a 2018 case that resulted in convictions in 2022.