They are protesting against “inhumane” and “undignified” working conditions and demanding their regularization. The undocumented companions of Emmaus in Nieppe (North) began an “indefinite” strike on Saturday, joining the northern communities of Tourcoing, Saint-André-Lez-Lille and Grande-Synthe, we learned from sources. concordant.
“It is with great sadness that we announce to you that we in turn are blocked by some of our companions and the CGT,” indicated the Emmaüs community of Nieppe on Facebook. The twelve undocumented companions began the strike “this morning at 8 a.m. on the same demands” as the other communities on strike, indicated Pascal Blindal, of the Departmental Union CGT, which supports the movement.
“They are demanding regularization, which was promised to them, immediately and unconditionally,” he said, denouncing “a hidden work system” with “a captive workforce that cannot leave because people are not regularized. “The operating system is well established: promise of regularization after three years in exchange for the acceptance of a working time of 40 hours per week for a nest egg of 380 euros per month”, point out in a communicated by the CGT Armentières and the Committee of Undocumented Migrants 59. Undocumented immigrants also demand “recognition of hidden work” and “payment of the resulting reparations”.
Investigation into “human trafficking”
This mobilization is part of a movement initiated by the community of Saint-André-Lez-Lille, of which around twenty undocumented companions have been on strike since the beginning of July. This community has been targeted since May by an investigation for “human trafficking” and “hidden work”.
In another Emmaüs community in the North, that of Grande-Synthe, around twenty companions began a strike at the end of August to protest against working conditions. The companions of the Emmaus community of Tourcoing have been on strike since September 12.
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“The mission of an Emmaüs community is to work on the overall social situation of people. For people in an irregular situation, regularization is one of the subjects (…),” reacted the general delegate of Emmaüs France, Tarek Daher, in an interview with La Voix du Nord published on Saturday. “If you have spent three years in a community as a companion, you have the right to apply for a residence permit on an exceptional basis. But there is nothing automatic,” he added.
2023-09-30 20:30:21
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