we actually use the dw as to send us photos and videos of what's happening. and that's the news update. i'm quite richardson in berlin for me in the whole team. thanks so much for watching the ice cold. plastic underneath an expedition ventures on to places that no one has the climate research in the ice, the dos march 3rd on d, w to the heart of sean pioneer. and you can see there is money here. major champagne brands are enjoying record sales,

but the people at the other end of the value chain face a very different feed get from i thought i worked for 4 days to be left without paying exploitation. human trafficking slaves like labor reports, because when i think how it used to be where we are today, all because of profits, it makes me set something to insure upon your fluency is juxtaposed with abject poverty or so when you see this, you must stop. it will still be the, the town of at the ne, in northeastern france, the center of the world's famous champagne industry. says display avenue just on

sonya levin and she'll find them, it is, most of the big brands are here. robert schmidt, stephanie van gas and shaka nice belonged to an international collective of journalists there in champagne year for the harvest season to investigate what's behind the industry's glamorous facade. so the fancy buildings, well, it's clearly affluent. many of the major champagne brands are backed by large corporations, luxury conglomerates, and investors. business is booming in 2022, the industry, so record turnover of more than 6000000000 euros to maintain these profits. someone 100000 seasonal workers are needed for the great harvest. every year and they look at the crates and they've, what i say that over they put the groups is, well, i'm gonna say yes. are supported by journalism funds, europe. the reporters are researching

a story they hope to publish in german and french media, investigating whether there's illegal exploitation and human trafficking in the champagne industry. cities, how they cause the work they do is very strenuous and eventually some people are adequately paid. lee is also a buckle like to multi point of therapy in cases of people house and terrible conditions. of course this isn't the norm, but it does happen. so, but that was really to me. yeah. we want to see exactly what's going on and what sort of deals can excuse specic victim. yeah. because because your lots of people who come here from eastern europe, africa and asia don't know their rights, he couldn't spell it. and sometimes if they don't dare defend themselves against abuses or see that because i'm or if you g, i knew i feel your situation is the do not have a civil income and that's why they are ready to do any kind of job. then i'll start photographer a journalist. the i would like to tell is

a story. the reporters have no idea that this harvest season will mark a milestone with hundreds of new cases of exploitation and human traffic and coming to light. to begin, they want to find out more about the actual grape harvest on the big non families champagne estate. the work day begins before dawn. don't go into the home with me. shelby now married a winemaker 30 years ago. she helped out in the kitchen during harvest season. these days it's a thriving family business and she's in charge of the great picking teams to seek to you. the hard list is hard work. the press has to be fed. grapes have to be picked off. please. no one is here to sit around to see show they want to harvest, harvest,

harvest factory up to you. the polish workers are already waiting outside. they're directly employed by the family and live here on the grounds. in this, there are 9 of them here, so there are 14 others in another building with awesome. everyone prepares their lunch here to take to the vineyards. this year the harvest starts in early september, when temperatures can still reach over 40 degrees celsius. as the sun rises, the work begins. each of the harvest workers will take several 100 kilos of grades today. well, michelle, make sure there aren't too many leaves in the crates. the reporters ask the workers how they cope with the heat. and we finished work earlier because the summer was the burning hours king. and what about you pay for less hours of work? it's it hurts but the some of us take

medicine or have a different way for a buck. bang. daria is a student. this is their 2nd hard the season with the been of family. others have been doing it for more than 10 years and take time off from their actual jobs to come. that much want it in 10 days it's for fall into it's too much like it's. yeah, you can count on that much money and 10 days on a good slope darya can earn more than 150 euros a day. the prospect of a decent wage like this is attractive. many wine growers now outsource the harvesting to service providers that recruit and manage teams of foreign workers. me share a now prefers to do it all herself, even though it's sometimes hard to communicate with the workers. so home, the facade is, the service providers are useful. for instance,

i don't speak any polish, and the workers don't speak french, so to speak english. but otherwise we communicate with gestures. so i prefer to have my own teams much better. if you work with a service provider, you need to ask how the people are being accommodated and where come on and under what conditions. the winemaker has seen outsourcing roll over the years as major brands want to maximize profits, but she's still stays true to her way. i'm happy, they're beautiful grapes. my son can work well with ease. college. nearby, her son shall, is a waiting the harvest. he studied city culture before taking over the state. this is his 3rd harvest season. this is where i take over as soon as the grapes arrive, we start the press. yup. and then we make one and it takes 4 tons for one load. the

young winemaker has plans to improve the vineyard, as according to the law or regulating champagne production, the grapes have to be hand picked to avoid any damage. we want to plant ivy and fruit treats with you can't only think in terms of profit loss with a heat right now when the harvest workers want to take a break. there is no shape and bush, so it's a project that's close to my heart. so that's one that's not the same, but not everyone has such a whole. some approach the main producers have financial goal is to meet in around 2 thirds of the harvest. go to the big brands industry leader l. v in age produces more than $70000000.00 bottles a year. so they know as goals are more modest, he's happy with the 70000 bottles they're hoping to produce. we went out into the cold to prune the vice scott on the tractor to attend to them . it took time and energy,

and in the end we got something great because we won't be drinking this wind for another 4 or 5 years. so you need to bear that in mind to diverse. they know champagne overseen from start to finish by shows will be ready later in 2024. but there's already a reason to celebrate. oh no, we've started the last press. so now we can take a deep breath with a toast to end the day. one of the tables united, tony calling you on a to and other day done 14000 kilos picked 1.3. hector was processed, everything went well well, so it's a deficit. so here's, do you know, most of the, in years to you, all many wine growers and brand stick to the rules, but there are also some black sheep in the industry back in may, we've heard that people arrive at the station looking for work and the harvest by

investment, they sleep in the park outside and wait for sub contractors to come along and offer them more expensive than at least for the holidays. hardly anyone here wants to speak out against a sub contractors. finally, someone agrees to talk to us secure. what are you waiting for? we just bought the 12 by i'm looking for work a deal. are you expecting sub contractors? yes. deals that have you been offered? were waiting for them. yes. but for 50 or 60 euros a day or so. i won't do that. it's not enough to finish, but the use of lives in lee is he's here because he needs the money. we always have you ever had problems before then ways. yeah, yes. 2 or 3 times people came along. i went with one of them, works for 4 days, and then he left without paying on my cards. not so it goes. that's how it works

here. of possible use it is holding out for a decent offer until then he'll sleep here in the park. back in the vineyards, a team from the powerful french trade union, c g t has come to show solidarity with the workers c g t general secretary, subbing delaney is a trained nurse. now she's fighting for the rights of seasonal workers taken to for to the press. but there's a settlement. there's a code of silence. we don't know how many people are affected by. yeah. for, for maybe it's only a few cases. but even one case is one to many parts without having to sit on the top of the, the front of our job is to make sure that nobody is employed here under slavery like conditions while you're from discovery during the harvest season. the c g

t team is in the vineyards every day, speaking with a great pickers. an opponent on it, we're here to talk to the harvest workers and been sick of this and the trouble is they won't talk. they won't say anything of them. they're afraid of losing their jobs. no one talks in the vineyards or her. there's also a language barrier. if you don't me, where do you sleep in terms of thunder? a tar bullen. the english into the longer lessons in gold was the language barrier is a big problem. still we give them the leaflets so they can read them packed and perhaps with the help of some of the french who can explain to them why we're here . pulling it out. if they do have problems, they only come to us after the grape harvest to them when they need more information. the this group of bulgarians also

works for a service provider. the fields belong to a large producer, shift the boss and i put in a problem. if there are problems and here's our phone number. yeah. give us a call and i will answer all your questions to to get through brooklyn. the sound of just call. here's our number. we will answer your questions. i'm good to go. where do you sleep by buddy? harris, you're going back to paris in the evening here? yes. 100 kilometers on the legally, the workers have to have an 11 hour break between shifts. the union is suspect, this rule isn't being observed, but the c g t is not an official investigating authority. typically, computer complicated this year, if the boss says he's going to drive 100 kilometers to spend the night somewhere and come back the next day, you will be under the. we don't know if it's a 100 kilometers, are more likely only the workers can say. so again,

we can only find out if they're being cheated. if they come to us, well, we can't just guess what's happening up on, you know it's, it's what's on the coupon. well, it's up to the laborers themselves to report problems. only labor inspectors and police can take action against exploitation in the vineyards. but both declined our interview request or the the reporters turn to the corporation of champagne. one, growers which comprises several 1000 medium sized wine growers. joseph gunnar, thanks for seeing us. there's a section of course please don't panic, the winemaker himself and has been active in the association for years. why we need to be don't play out. we bring the wine growers together and host events where

various issues are flagged, such as working conditions, social issues, and other official matters, or a new certificate school. what can you tell us about service providers? i don't know if it's, well, there are lots of small businesses and jump on you off with assume that kind of sometimes hard for them to find workers you don't care for and it's becoming increasingly difficult to recruit people locally. that's why we've seen an increase in outsourcing and recent years. go to tell us the process, you know, for the look at it, because we provide information on this, on the company construction for the, the ssl that you have about. so when you work with a service provider, you have to follow certain rules and make sure you check everything on the sites. is an order of the restaurant to speak the, the core dice victory. april who is the awareness of the conditions paper work in the show. it seems the same problems arise year after year on any they're supposed to just i wouldn't say every year and one of the grape harvest is

a lucrative business. it's all a to model and unfortunately that attracts sometimes dishonest people who made their, fortunately, but it was more a big okay. after we finish filming the wine makers present several proposals. there is to be more accommodation for workers. the work should be better organized and above all stricter rules should apply to the service providers. whether this will actually come to be remains to be seen shows a blown go, has worked in the champagne industry for 36 years. today. he's a trade unionist and tackles the exploitation of workers by sub contractors. he starts work early, one parties, most of them aren't even earning a 100 zeros a day. they get between $40.50 your time that's below the going rate. you're going to see uh over the years and entire system has evolved here with the support of the

industry. and the authorities simply look the other way. you tell me user. no one will be happy that we're digging around. these reports to the book, we're going to use this product to look for. well, see that van over there? it's just arrive, but it didn't talk to me then. well, feel the people are watching subsidy. they know we're here in the course of his campaign against exploitation. shows they has met the minister of labor and been in touch with the local politicians about visiting the vineyards. this work makes them a target. tea and the reporters are clearly under observation. it's a french license plates, a local one. what is this guy want? about the only watching us yes, the he's on the phone. they keep an eye on all the time. shows

a is undeterred. he knows that some of the sub contractors come to this car park to recruit workers. i'm gonna wait. you can see the buses arriving here from various places and also from parents. definitely and dropping people off looking for work in the vineyards. the so the no one dropped off here stays with the wind growers. otherwise they'd be taken directly to the vineyards in don't coast that. ok, that's a long commute. natalia. i post absolutely on that. some of been traveling for 2 hours. now they're waiting to see where they will be sent. josie polanko is convinced that some of the subcontractors are part of the organized criminal networks. okay, the best sense, so there are people orchestrating at all. oh yeah, and it's a team leader so to speak. and the supervisor is full or this,

shall we go over and talk to them, you know, call me most all. i'd rather not easy for them. it's all well organized and super it is totally get them. so i'm worried about my safety a recent case showed that criminal activity does indeed exist after seasonal workers reported a sub contractor network. the service provider was convicted of human trafficking in 2022. of the stuff assessing in do for to this is one of the photos published in the local press it over here. you can see workers sleeping on mattresses on the floor so, so they might know most of them were asylum seekers and putting them on to that in the journal. this is chuck nice news. how powerless people can feel in such

situations. he fled from afghanistan, defense himself after being in touch with one of the seasonal workers from the court case for a while. you shocked me some for an interview in paris. she said to an advisor is also from afghanistan. this is the 1st time since the ruling that he's speaking publicly about, the criminal network that exploited him. in general, the, we were told that we'd have a room for 2 people who knew that everything was clean and tidy and that there would be food fox. news and when we got there everything was different, but there was only one big room, add ons, no beds, and no mattress. it's i know for sure. we slept on the floor. you've got to send them and you didn't sign any contracts that when we applied for the job, they didn't give us a contract number. i worked for 5 days without a contract and then i told them if you don't give me a contract,

i won't work here anymore. that's why i called the police it, i mean the police okay. tell me more about the working conditions. kind of thing. that's a work was very hard. we worked until just before midnight in the morning we got up around 5 or 6 was like they were 36 people and one rooms and there was only one toilet fast enough. but within that, the for one user, these days, if i tools that cfo has a job with a proper contract in paris, his statements resulted in the biggest case of human trafficking and champagne year to date. many of the of gun workers were represented by a lawyer based in the city of loans. bullshit, marshall used to take part in the great harvest as a student himself, a lot has changed since then. not known as eustace. nobody's reached. the court is

right in the middle of the region. they only know, and now it's also dealing with this industry in activity. they couldn't measure. it's a major economic factor here, which you know, that is going to be that good, but we weren't used to dealing with it in a criminal court. the no casa, and then we heard a case that turned out to be huge. this morning said to natalie, the lawyer agrees to talk about it. he says that even no more than a year after the ruling, many questions remain unanswered. dates on politics of cnn. it was an extraordinary trial and more fully spend one point in your but in terms of the outcome, it was extremely frustrating to the next 10 1st ice. you just a moment was able, the verdict was frustrating. visual 9 gong on the launch on pan. uh, we saw a very large champagne brand that outsourced to a sub contractor, which in turn notes sourced to another sub contractor. uh,

i know what the price was. he did potential on sale. he's the court looked at the 2nd and 3rd levels through the cable. she buckled, but at the top of the pyramid. oh, look you up with someone who was supposed to supervise the grape harvest on behalf of the big champagne brand. we live on the ocean. this person slipped through the naturally made this last look sort of we didn't do, you get the impression that an industry and some important players were being protected like the measure. next, whether there's somebody, odds and regions is relies to a large extent on wind growing. and with that know the professor i appreciate. don't think the folks, you know, you can't help thinking the case targeted the people doing the enforcing usually the whole not those giving the orders me up and walden you although this of course does not apply to the whole industry, but evidence against them. sub contractors is piling up back in the vineyard. this

young man who works for a subcontractor of a major champagne producer wants to remain anonymous. i'm too afraid of his statement. sounds familiar. i received no contact from all nothings. and what, what about the diesel, the one in the police, it was for the low cuz sometimes who gets along sometimes with the list. some guy in good faith like 400 zeros for working 10 days. you live in this for the same guy you're working for or for him having the same day when i got all the reporters here, similar accounts over the following days. the image of sean han yet has been tarnished, says trade unionists shows a blanco. it's high time to stop exploitative sub contractors. he says in the interest of big brands as rival products, such as a tally and pros. seco are becoming more popular,

just possibly legal for you. we hope that the employers, especially the main brands, will sit down together and put it into this, these people. all right, the software for the, for the sake of the image and the future of champagne. what i don't know who the point we're fighting for our jobs, our industry for our return, your call as you utilize your shows, a blonde go was born and jump on you and worked in the industry for decades. his own son works in the vineyards during the harvest. he maintains there's been systematic exploitation for a long time. inadequate accommodation for workers is one issue, the another camp, semi legal. let it on. yeah. last year they put labels on the dungeon wins just now this year. there are stickers for separated trash cancer subsidies, which means they've been provided by the municipality over the past on a to morning. that means every one of them, they are the unit suppose association and the municipality is in fact,

tensor especially forbidden in this part of sham tanya. yet illegal comes to be found all along the roadside up in the forest. the conditions are especially shocking and informative towards jose. together with the union colleague, noel sounds, the just a wants to see for himself. know where you are. that looks like a bench and table problems resolutely unconditioned steps to. so it's a proper account. there was a cam here, but now everyone's gone. we'll schedule it to complete it on you to camp they're looking for is believe to be further north me once before i think we have to go past the vineyard. all right, let's go through. what did they find? what they're looking for at the edge of the forest, make shift tens. no toilet, no water connection, multiple plugs in wet grass. jose is outraged up what seems winning or even after

a long day in the vineyard is in the rain. imagine coming back in the evening to conditions like this, with this catastrophic motion. is there a wild boars? and these, for the most part, i can just see them dropping by in the evening. this will get or for it also looks like there are children living here. suddenly a woman appears with her daughter. they don't want to be filmed way. okay, that's okay. we won't from what's the boss is name. i don't know. we've only been here for 2 or 3 days. big is everything. okay. my husband is going to work and i'm here with my daughter. do you work in the vineyards too? yes. while the men wait, stephanie listens to the woman's story. a 2 g. the many, she's from romania, she came here with her husband and the rest of her family or somebody and they were

promised proper accommodation with the toilet. but when they arrive on the x, there was nothing here. you know how they did what it did she days went on to to, to that's human trafficking. absolutely. that's a good human traffic. i'll call the labor department. and that's how it works. and trump on the and that's how it works is we condemn it off, but this isn't about the union. this is about these people, not cities or wherever they are from their human beings. we can't allow this to happen though. it has to stop after we finish filming the reporters, the footage of people in catastrophic accommodation given in edible food. it's clear that these are no isolated cases. by the end of the season, hundreds of new victims of modern slavery have been discovered with ongoing investigations into unpaid wages, totaling millions and 2 new cases of human trafficking. a sorry indictment of one

of the richest regions in the world. the stars is we started to understand clearly and what you need to do for us. ukraine was a similar are we moving towards europe or not? the 2013 vistas afraid democracy protest in ukraine. the country responds to ukraine's dispute. so west has recognized the danger and the chances of being foretold on the signs with us. we really

understand that so easily. a file uh we will lose our conscious euro. my done stops february 17th on d. w. the these kinds of ships once gabby goulds and merchandise that are on the word the button, and after that time is up 80 percent of them end up as hazardous waste sites on solid issuing shores. like godaddy and buck is done along in india and still go mean bundle dish going to, i mean it didn't cost and endangering workers. today we explore bond with dish is she told me she breaking yard to assess the human and environmental tools of the she banking industry.