Four Moroccan nationals who came to France to work as lumberjacks have been exploited by their employers, reports La Nouvell République. After signing CDI contract more than a year ago, they would have received 2,000 Euros only. Originally from Ouaoumana, not far from Khénifra, these four Moroccans left Morocco for Indre, a department in central France, to work. «We are loggers. We came to work for this man because we know him, he often comes to our village», says one of them. Two of them arrived in France in June 2017, the others joined them in February 2018. Since then, they worked more than 10 hours in a row each day in a wood cutting site in Indre. Their employer gave them twenty-minute lunch breaks and picked them up at the end of the day to take them back to the apartment where they were staying. He also made them work in a restaurant that he owns, says one of them. A few days ago, the employer tore up their CDI and CDD contracts. The two Moroccan men who left their country for more than a year would have received 2,000 Euros only, a little more than the monthly minimal wage in France, known as smic. The other two, who worked under a fixed-term contract, would have received 330 Euros for working four months. «It is inconceivable that this form of modern slavery can exist. This shows that the situation of foreign workers in France is more than precarious», declared a member of the General Confederation of Labour (CGT) which accompanies them. A hearing will be held Thursday, 28th of June, in France.
