2023-08-10 11:30:00
ECONOMY – Once again this year, thousands of Spanish workers are traveling to France for the grape harvest. In Spain, the general union of workers (UGT) denounces the fact that the quota for the French harvest is filled while in Spain there is a lack of pickers.
This year, there will be 15,000, including more than 11,000 people from Andalusia, or three out of four workers. This figure is much lower than 50 years ago, when nearly 100,000 seasonal workers crossed the border to harvest the various crops on the other side of the Pyrenees, encouraged by better wages and the significant difference between currencies. at the time (1 franc was equivalent to 25 pesetas).
Better salary conditions in France
The union achieved by the euro in this regard has not been achieved in terms of wages. To give an idea, the French minimum wage in 2002 was higher (1,127 euros) than the Spanish minimum wage today (1,080 euros). It is true that over time this gap has narrowed somewhat and therefore the flow of seasonal workers to France has also decreased.
Despite this, the number of seasonal workers remains high, especially considering the current situation in the Spanish countryside. According to the Federation of Industry, Construction and Agriculture (FICA) of the UGT, it is “paradoxical” that the French quotas are respected whereas in Spain, it is difficult to find seasonal workers.
The salary that these workers will receive will depend on the professional category for which they were hired (cutter, roller or porter, etc.) and the French department in which they work. These wages are set in mixed commissions, which are the equivalent of Spanish collective agreements. But under no circumstances may this salary be less than 11.52 euros per hour for a maximum legal duration of 35 hours per week. In Spain, the minimum wage is 8.45 euros per hour of actual work, with a maximum legal duration of 40 hours per week.
A large number of Andalusian seasonal workers
Regarding the profile of seasonal workers who come for this campaign, approximately 58% are men and 42% women and nine out of ten have already harvested in France. Andalusia will be by far the Spanish region from which the most workers will leave, with 11,000 people taking part in the French harvests.
The high unemployment rate in Andalusia, where there are currently 693,373 unemployed, has forced many families to harvest grapes for decades. Among the pickers are unemployed people and people who cannot find well-paid jobs in Spain, as well as Andalusian students taking advantage of the summer to earn some money.
Spanish seasonal workers will start traveling to France at the end of August, but it is not until the beginning of September that the largest contingent will leave. The main departments looking for Spanish workers for the harvest are Bordeaux-Aquitaine, Burgundy, Champagne and Alsace.
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