Olympic sites employing workers illegally | DW Documentary

In Paris, workers occupied an Olympic arena building site where they had been hired to work illegally. Their strike exposed the construction company and cast light on the role of Paris authorities and the French government.

Paris is preparing to host the 2024 Olympics and Paralympics. The city was awarded the Games in 2017, after promising they would be socially responsible. But the reality has been very different at countless Olympic sites built by giant construction firms. In order to meet tight schedules, companies have turned to subcontractors to hire thousands of workers. That’s allowed them to turn a blind eye to the many undocumented migrants working in dangerous conditions.
One such worker is painter Abdalah-Azis. He and others were employed informally at the Adidas Arena. Together, they decided to use the approaching Olympic construction deadline to pressure their employers for proper documentation. After five years of hard work for a subcontractor who employed him under three different identities, Abdalah-Azis wanted to finally secure residence status so he could visit his widowed mother in Mali.
The strikers were prepared to risk everything to assert their rights. They planned their action in strict secrecy in the office of a union representative, Etienne. At dawn on October 17, 2023, they ran to the stadium and broke through barriers to occupy the building site. What followed was a months-long tug-of-war with city officials and the construction company.

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