Paris: a tribute paid to a worker who died on an Olympic Games site

Amara Dioumassy, a Malian worker who died in a work accident in June 2023, on the Austerlitz basin construction site in Paris.

Around a hundred union activists and members of her family, some in tears, gathered on Saturday in pouring rain at the scene of the tragedy in Square Albert Tournaire (Paris 12th) at 2 p.m. to demand recognition and justice for Amara.

Almost a year ago, on June 16, 2023, the reversing of a machine on the Austerlitz storage basin construction site (Paris 13th arrondissement) was fatal. Amara died in front of his colleagues from Urbaine de Travaux-Darras et Jouanin, the company working for the City of Paris, master and financier of the project.

The emergency services were unable to do anything. Amara was transported dead to the Forensic Institute (IML) next door. A month later, the victim made “his last journey, in a coffin”, laments Lyes Chouaï, CGT union representative of SADE, the company which employed the truck driver, then a subsidiary of Veolia. The body was repatriated to Mali, in the hold of an Air France 747.

The Malian worker worked for a subsidiary of the Veolia company. If the sites managed by Solideo, the delivery company for the Olympic works, benefit from reinforced controls, this was not the case at that of Amara, which was a Paris city site. The protection of workers was not a priority, says Jean-Albert Guidou, general secretary of the CGT of Bobigny: “The most banal security conditions were not applied, that’s why Amara died . »

Despite our cries of warning via the media, social networks, and the questioning of the largest representative body of the Véolia group, the European group committee, we have not yet done anything to do justice to Amara.

La Sade and the city of Paris must explain themselves: We are asking for the results of the investigation by the labor inspectorate and the gendarmerie. Safety breaches by the employer must lead to his conviction for inexcusable misconduct and result in criminal proceedings.

If the conclusions allow it, it will be a matter of criminally recognizing the inexcusable fault of the employer.

Amara leaves behind 12 children, including a baby. Fatherless, they must be compensated. Full reparation for Amara’s family!

Supporters of this experienced construction worker denounce serious safety breaches on this site managed by SADE, with the City of Paris as principal.

Asked by AFP, the Paris town hall and Veolia recalled that the judicial investigation was still underway to determine responsibilities, ensuring that they had fully cooperated.

The ceremony comes on the eve of World Safety at Work Day, of which France is a bad student, with two people dying every day in the workplace, the worst incidence in the European Union.

The demonstrators also expressed “pain” and “anger” before the inauguration of the Austerlitz basin, scheduled for Thursday, May 2, during which the town hall said it wanted to “pay tribute” to Amara Dioumassy.

In total, 181 work accidents have been recorded, including 31 serious since the start of work related to the Olympic Games. In 2021 in France, there were still 640,000 work accidents, including 39,000 serious and 696 fatal, according to figures from Health Insurance, the public body which compensates victims.

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