Dawn workers: seasonal agricultural workers in the orchards in Beaucaire to harvest the fruits

Léonard, a 38-year-old Romanian seasonal worker, has always worked in agriculture. Free Midi – Axel Dumond

At Mas du Soleil on the island of Pilet, seasonal agricultural workers harvest or sort fruit from early in the morning. Often, they live all year round solely thanks to their long months spent working in the orchards or at the packing center.

It's 6 pm 30. "We're fine, it's not hot." Léonard picks apricots with his team. His seasoned hands started working half an hour ago. The July dawn was just rising at Mas du Soleil. The seasonal worker wears a shirt and a sleeveless jacket. The air is fresh this morning on the island of Pilet, in Beaucaire, on the banks of the Rhône.

"Why wouldn't that work ?"

Léonard has been an agricultural employee since he was 18. He arrived in France in 2018. "Here you can live.&quot ; The seasonal worker left his country, Romania. "Life is hard there.& ;quot; He spent fifteen years in Spain, notably harvesting oranges in the Valencia region.

The department head doesn't complain. "Why wouldn't it work ?" For the 38 year old man,< em> "work is the most important". He is used to the "physical" side of collecting."He doesn’ there's no need to go to the gym", jokes "Léo", as his wife Liliane calls him.

Five or six months of picking

"It’s family." "My brother, my sister, the whole family works in agriculture", explains the Romanian. She is paid the minimum wage and  nbsp;works from Monday to Friday, approximately 8 hours per day. The seasons last five or six months.

The rest of the year, the couple with three children, living in Saint-Gilles, look for jobs and register as unemployed when there are no offers. This year, the harvest started in May with cherries and will end with apples in the fall. For apricots, they must be picked gently and not dropped. Liliane has a rolling stepladder to reach the high branches.

Liliane picks the apricots carefully. The fruit must not be damaged. Midi Libre – Axel Dumond

“The French don't want these jobs”

In her box, three bottles of water. On very hot afternoons, the boss makes the pickers go home earlier. They are all foreigners. "The French don't want these jobs." David Sève employs about fifty seasonal workers this summer. Last year it was "more like double".

Due to the weather, the yields from the 90 hectares of fruit trees are low. Tractors pass between the rows of apricot trees to harvest the boxes of fruit. They are then transported by truck. Head to the conditioning center, a few kilometers away.

Fruit sorting

Under the large hangar, "there is a good atmosphere", says Elias, 20 years old.&nbsp ;The History degree student sorts the apricots and carries crates. "Frankly it's okay."  The summer job, "tiring", will earn him  "quite a bit of money". It ends at the end of the month. "August, I'm enjoying !"

The days are between 10 and 11 hours, from Monday to Friday. Sometimes on Saturday morning. "We put up with it." In another life, Lydie worked in a hotel in Beaucaire. The employee resigned.  She found a substitute by making seasonal products, packaging strawberries or apples, before ;land here. At 61, the seasonal worker is looking forward to retirement.

Diversity of profiles and languages

The heat under the shed adds difficulty to sorting the fruit. "It hits." Dominique, his colleague, has "always worked in packaging", for various companies in the region. At Mas du Soleil, most of the men are in the orchards. Women are the majority among the fifteen or so employees at the packaging center.

Mery, with graying hair, left Ecuador in 1999 because of a serious economic crisis. The fifty-year-old lived in Spain, working as a cleaner or employee in a call center. Her journey is guided by job opportunities. Like many seasonal workers we met, the Ecuadorian came to France "for work."

His Spanish and the Arabic or French of the other employees make the tin shed echo. A permanent living together, well beyond one season.