Posted on February 09, 2021
“Food sovereignty is an ambitious objective and for that, we need means of production” recalled Christiane Lambert, president of the FNSEA (© C. Zambujo)
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While we are a few weeks away from the first Carpentras strawberry pickings, which generally mark the start of the season, the farmers and their union representatives too, are worried about the availability of future labor.
Thursday January 28, the FNSEA echoed the meeting on the social agenda which had just ended with the Prime Minister, Jean Castex, the Minister of Agriculture, Julien Denormandie, and the Minister of Labor, Élisabeth Borne. ” We need consistency in these troubled times “, Explains Christiane Lambert, president of the FNSEA, alongside Jérôme Volle, its vice-president:” Food sovereignty is an ambitious objective and, for that, we need means of production. In this context, the withdrawals of molecules worry us, the offense of ecocide also, the commercial negotiations even more, in particular the requests for deflation issued by the distributors. It is incomprehensible, while the cost of raw material increases the cost of production “. But at the beginning of February, the specter of the lack of manpower adds a layer to the millefeuille of agricultural concerns.
Tools urgently developed in 2020 …
In charge of the social file, Jérôme Volle recalled what the sector’s needs were. ” We employ more than 235,000 permanent employees and the need amounts to more than a million seasonal workers each year “. While the first vegetable harvests are about to begin, this meeting with the Prime Minister made it possible to clarify the structuring work done last year: on the national collective agreement first of all, which must come into force on 1is next April; on the recruitment policy and the need to continue to implement the ‘youth plan’ system thereafter, knowing that this system has found a favorable response in the sector; on the partnerships set up with Pôle emploi, in particular to raise awareness among young people looking for a ‘little’ job and inform them that agriculture is theirs. opened our arms: we worked with engineering schools, universities, colleges, to see how agriculture could accommodate these young people who were more in the catering industry “; finally on the support of apprenticeship teachers. ” Farmers have been trained to welcome young apprentices. We are pleased to note that only 7.5% of contracts do not go through, the termination occurring mainly in the first month, which allows the operator to bounce back. In 2020, we had 15% more requests. It’s encouraging. »
All this work done last year, in large part ” urgently “, Has enabled new solutions to emerge which must be perpetuated: the operation ‘Des bras pour ton assiette’ has thus raised awareness of more than 370,000 people who have registered on the platform, not to mention the writing and the sanitary protocol in place, in record time, which made it possible to solve the strawberry and asparagus harvests at the end of March. ” But agriculture is 80% of seasonal employment through word of mouth. And some spots deserve to be specialized. »
… which need to be perpetuated
Today therefore, the specter of the re-closing of the borders complicates the situation for the future harvests which are announced at the end of the month, ” knowing that more than 100,000 jobs are filled each year by employees outside the European Union. We have started to work on a health protocol, it must be deployed on a larger scale “, Recalled the vice-president, acknowledging that” his greatest concern “Was closing” brutal “Border, closure” not taking into account these health protocols. In this specific case, yes, we risk having gaps ».
At the end of the year, the FDSEA of Vaucluse and Bouches-du-Rhône managed to set up a special flight from Casablanca1, with 180 seasonal workers on board. Enough to relieve the farms. ” Employees from the European Union must be separated from those outside the EU. These are often OFII contracts. In 2017, the latest consolidated figures available to us, they were 500,000, including 13% for the agricultural sector. But this figure has been increasing for three years. Except that, in recent months, we have seen a decline and authorizations difficult to obtain », Jérôme Volle warns. As unemployment is increasing in France, the prefects seem less inclined to grant entry permits to the territory. ” However, it is a tool that should not be overlooked: seasonal workers are trained, we know their entry and departure date. The framework is strict. The FNSEA has also started work with the Tunisian embassy to set up on-site training, so that these seasonal workers are trained at home, and operational when they arrive in France.. As for seasonal workers from the EU, the FNSEA pleads for a harmonization of health protocols.
This is why during this interministerial meeting, all this was recalled. ” Our message was: no brutal choices. No loss of rights either, for all those who choose agriculture. We will be working with all the departments involved on this », Summarizes Christiane Lambert. In conclusion, the president thus called on the French to a great mobilization, to pick the fruits and vegetables which will arrive: all the seasonal workers who cannot work in restaurants, bars, ski resorts or seaside resorts, are invited to get closer to the agricultural sectors, the Pôle Emploi, the Departmental Employment and Training Associations (Adefa), the Agri-Recrute or ‘Des bras pour ton assiette’ platforms. ” Food sovereignty is the banner behind which we must all come together to relocate production to France. And without arms, we will not succeed. Farmers need you. Come, inquire, we are ready to answer you! », Concluded the president of the FNSEA.
Céline Zambujo
Fruits and vegetables
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