They paid to work. A month and a half after the strike movement of some 200 undocumented workers launched by the CGT in ten companies in Ile-de-France, an investigation for “Employment of illegal aliens” is in progress. This procedure targets the Sepur waste collection company and is conducted by the labor inspectorate, under the supervision of the Versailles prosecutor’s office. “Labor inspection checks have revealed several offenses relating to the employment of foreigners without a title, confirms the Ministry of the Interior. There are working conditions that border on exploitation. There will be consequences for employers, administrative sanctions, legal proceedings. “
From October 25 to November 17, 59 undocumented garbage collectors, hired through the interim companies Mistertemp’et Drop Interim, went on strike to demand their regularization.
In parallel with the ongoing investigation, at least eight undocumented garbage collectors, Malians and Mauritanians, lodged a complaint in late October and early November for “Extortion”. According to the minutes of hearings that The world consulted, most of them accuse two team leaders of the Sepur depot in Villejust (Essonne) of having withdrawn money from them, in exchange for which they could work despite their administrative situation. Some had been working full time as “ripeurs” since 2019, in Hauts-de-Seine, Essonne, Seine-et-Marne, Seine-Saint-Denis or even in Val-d’Oise.
“Racketed” by his superiors
Thus, Ousmane, an undocumented Mauritanian garbage collector, explains in his hearing that from December 2020 he had to give “100 euros per month” to these two leaders. “If I didn’t pay them, they wouldn’t call me anymore”, he assures. In order to be able to be declared despite their irregular status, most complainants resorted to “aliases”, a common process that involves working using the identity documents of another person, in a regular situation, without the knowledge or with the help of the employer.
” [Mes supérieurs] told me to pay 200 euros each month otherwise they would terminate my contract, ”says Moussa.
Some have also resorted to false identity documents, like Moussa, who reports having been “racketed” by his superiors from the month of January: “At the beginning, when I started working with them, I gave them a false French national identity card. They realized that it was a false document, and from that moment on they started blackmailing me by telling me to pay 200 euros each month otherwise they would terminate my contract. “
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