2023-08-11 10:48:46
When the causes of the shortage of seasonal workers are discussed with the operators, the issue of housing quickly comes to the surface. « Today, the secret to having labor available in good time is to be able to house it,” says Daniel Sauvaitre, arborist and winemaker in Charente and president of the National Association of Apple and Pear Producers (ANPP). And for good reason: for seasonal workers, it has become an essential criterion.
« Offering accommodation will help you recruit seasonal workers and retain them,” promises the National Federation of Farmers’ Unions (FNSEA) in introducing a guide for agricultural employers. According to figures from the federation’s employment and training observatory, housing is a problem for 33% of employers surveyed. And its availability is used as a means of loyalty by 23% of them.
Increasingly strict regulations
“Historically, there were plenty of jobs where room and board were included. The person who came to the harvest benefited, for example, from food and lodging,” remembers Jean-Marie Fabre, president of the Independent Winegrowers, in the Aude. These benefits in kind are more rare today. No more shared meals and accommodation on the farm. « Constraints related to reception standards can no longer accommodate seasonal workers”, regret the winemaker.
Blame it on regulations that have become increasingly strict. Minimum area of 9 m2 per seasonal worker; no bunk beds; daily cleaning of the premises provided by the company manager: the accommodation conditions are now clearly enshrined in law and inspections by the labor inspectorate are frequent.
In spirit, these standards aim to limit the abuses observed in certain operations. In 2020, the prefect of Gard Didier Lauga denounced “modern slavery” after several visits by the labor inspectorate to substandard housing. Two hundred South American workers were housed in barracks without water or septic tanks, sleeping two by two in 4 m2 rooms.
Although he recognizes these abuses, David Sève, arborist in the Gard and president of the departmental branch of the FNSEA regrets a “too restrictive and unrealistic regulations”. “Even setting up a bungalow, the very one you’ll find on the coast for seaside holidays, is almost impossible. » In its Mas du Soleil operation, only six seasonal workers are housed on site, among the 80 employees who are hired as reinforcements for the months of picking.
The responses of the municipalities
To overcome this difficulty, some municipalities have taken the lead. Since 2017, the town hall of Mauguio (Gard) has, for example, launched an experiment to set up a village of seasonal workers on private land. In agreement with the prefecture of the department, 500 workers can stay in bungalows from March to September. “The rest of the time, the land can be released for agricultural use,” detailed Marie Levaux, horticulturist and elected member of the Hérault Chamber of Agriculture, at the microphone of France Bleu at the time of the launch of the device.
Same principle in Libourne, in Gironde, where the department inaugurated in 2022 a residence dedicated to workers hired for the harvest. Thanks to the participation of partner wine châteaux, rents are capped at between €19 and €46 per night.
Seasonal workers can also benefit from aid of €150 per month, paid by Action Logement, to find accommodation. Despite this aid, it remains difficult for agricultural workers to find accommodation in tourist regions where the prices of the least seasonal rental soar between June and September. According to the Joint National Association for Employment and Training in Agriculture (Anefa), 50% of seasonal agricultural work is in the south of France, in often very touristy areas.
#housing #barrier #hiring #seasonal #workers