“This is an unprecedented initiative closely involving the social partners in the preparation of a major sporting event like the Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games.” These were the words of Cyril Cosme, director of the International Labour Organization (ILO) office in France, at the opening of a conference entitled Social Charter Paris 2024: a step towards economically and socially responsible games, held at the Economic, Social and Environmental Council (CESE) in Paris on 25 April.

Signed on 19 June 2018 by eight French trade union centres and employers’ confederations, this non-binding charter set itself the goal of “leaving a strong social legacy [...] as part of a human and sustainable development approach”. Structured around 16 commitments and three major challenges, it addresses crucial issues such as quality employment and working conditions for employees, secure career paths for employees and volunteers, and serves as a guide for the preparation, the staging and the monitoring of the Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games.

During this conference, three months before the opening of the Games (on 26 July), the co-chairs of the Social Charter Monitoring Committee, Bernard Thibault, former leader of the CGT trade union centre, and Dominique Carlac’h, business leader and member of the executive council of Medef (Mouvement des Entreprises de France), drew up an initial positive assessment of the first phase, covering the six years of preparations for the double event. The meeting, which also brought together representatives from the Organising Committee (CNOSF) and Solidea (the company delivering the Olympic facilities), also provided an opportunity to explore the lessons to be learned from this joint initiative, for the organisation of similar events in the future.

Trade union involvement in the organisation of the Olympic and Paralympic Games: a major step forward?

The charter actually dates back to Paris’ bid for the 2012 Olympic Games, which was rejected in favour of London. At the time, the initiative, led by the trade unions and Paris City Council, was aimed at managing the event in such a way as to incorporate social objectives into every phase of its organisation. When the possibility of staging the 2024 Olympic Games resurfaced for Paris, top sportsmen Tony Estanguet and Bernard Lapasset, who were in charge of preparing France’s bid, went back to the previous project and decided to call on the unions to incorporate the 2012 social charter into their dossier and update it.

For trade unionist Thibault, who was involved in drawing up the charter as of 2012, the key aim was to prevent the exploitation of workers, an issue that other organisations, such as the global union federations and the ILO, had already worked on in connection with the World Cup in Qatar.

“We are in France, a country where social rights hold a central place because of our rich social, trade union and political history,” he explains. “It was obvious to me that the games in France could not be organised in the same way as in other countries, which often pay little attention to workers’ social rights. That’s how the idea of these commitments around the organisation of the Games came about.”

The London 2012 Olympic Games had also, of course, set itself the goal of being socially sustainable. The strategy adopted by the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (LOCOG) made it possible to employ a significant proportion of staff living in one of the six host districts surrounding Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, welcomed the fact that in the five years following the Olympic Games, 110,000 jobs had been created in these areas, although researchers such as Niloufar Vadiati have recently shown a more ambivalent legacy, with jobs not necessarily benefitting the local population.

Similarly, with regard to the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, a study by the Getulio Vargas Foundation’s Social Policy Centre found that the least well-off sections of society were the main beneficiaries of the increase in work-related income during the pre-Olympic period. The income of the poorest 5 per cent rose by 29.3 per cent, compared with 19.96 per cent for the richest 5 per cent.

Until now, however, no country hosting the Olympic Games had formalised, in a written document, its commitment to making the event more sustainable in socio-economic and environmental terms. For the signatories and the observers of this charter, this is a major step forward in the organisation of major sporting events.

“Based on observations of previous editions of the Games and other more recent sporting events, the Games’ organisers and the trade unions wanted, insofar as possible, to put in place a broad organisational framework that would ensure or include a good number of safeguards to ensure respect for the workers mobilised for the Games. This enabled the setting of objectives to combat illegal employment and other abuses,” explains Christophe Le Petit, head of economic studies at the Centre for Sports Law and Economics (CDE), who has worked on the economic impact and legacy of major international sporting events.

“Unlike other countries such as China, with the Beijing Games, or Qatar, with the World Cup, we had the stakeholders joining forces to work together. The approach and ambition are all the more interesting in that the charter was drawn up collectively. As far as I know, there has never been an initiative of this kind in the history of the Games, and I’m not sure whether it will be seen at other international sporting events either,” he adds.

A “rather positive” assessment of how the Olympic Games have been organised
Be it the unions, employers or members of the charter’s monitoring committee, everyone agrees that the Social Charter has achieved its main objectives in the first stage of preparations for the Games. This includes respect for the social rights of people employed under contract, the inclusion of small and medium-sized French companies on Olympic worksites, and fostering access to employment for people distanced from the labour market.

As a result, the public body in charge of supervising the 68 construction sites in the Paris region, Solideo, has drastically stepped up the level of vigilance and checks to detect cases of illegal employment, which have been found among certain subcontractors. Solideo also highlights the fact that more than 4,000 people who are “distanced from employment” (non-graduates, young people, the long-term unemployed, etc.), particularly those living in disadvantaged neighbourhoods, have already benefited from various professional integration schemes. The target set by the charter in this respect has even been exceeded, with over 2.8 million hours of integration work completed.

Another figure highlighted by the charter’s monitoring committee relates to safety on Olympic sites, where there has been a fourfold reduction in the average rate of work-related accidents. By 2024, 181 accidents had been recorded, but no fatal accidents have been reported in a sector – construction and public works – particularly prone to occupational accidents. [Editor’s note: this figure is based on the Olympic sites managed by Solideo, and does not take into account ancillary sites, such as the metro, where there have been fatal accidents].

Given the number of projects to be completed and the pressure to finish them, industry specialists recognise that the challenge was considerable.

“We have shown that if we equip ourselves with the means in terms of education, human and other resources we can really reduce the number of accidents at work in the construction and public works sector,” confirms Luc Martinet, who is in charge of monitoring the Paris 2024 Social Charter for the CFDT union confederation.

“I think that the awareness-raising work done by Solideo has been particularly strong on this issue, which has greatly contributed to this positive outcome. Limiting the use of subcontractors is of crucial importance, as is increasing the resources and time devoted to information and inspections,” he adds.

The French and international press have, nevertheless, reported on safety problems on building sites and the struggle of ten undocumented workers – assisted by the CGT – who have brought cases against construction giants such as Vinci, Eiffage, GCC, and a number of subcontractors, before a labour court in Bobigny. The workers have denounced their exploitation, and the fact that they were working without a contract or pay slip, and in unsafe conditions. The hearing will take place in October.

Striking a balance between the operational requirements of the Olympic Games and respect for workers’ rights

“Overall, at this stage, the results seem to me to be rather positive in relation to the commitments made, at least in terms of the part that is behind us, that is, the building of the infrastructures. Of course, we’ll have to see what happens with the organisational side, which is going to be very demanding and potentially problematic, with long working hours and limited rest days,” says Le Petit of the CDE.

“Organising an exceptional event means ‘atypical’ and sometimes even ‘substandard’ working conditions, in particular because we work to very tight deadlines, sometimes long hours, with a high level of organisational pressure. These factors all provide fertile ground for abuses and failure to respect workers’ fundamental rights in terms of rest, working hours and the declaration of work,” he adds.

Thousands of workers from both the public and private sectors will be mobilised under exceptional working conditions. This includes hotel and catering staff, such as Sodexo employees, who will have to run Europe’s largest restaurant in the athletes’ village, operating around the clock to provide almost 40,000 meals a day. Similarly, rail and urban transport staff, as well as logistics and private security workers, will be heavily in demand.

For this phase, the Charter includes provisions such as protecting the health and safety of employees and their working conditions, as well as promoting the professional redeployment of employees who work during the Olympic Games, among others. A first point of contention has, however, arisen concerning the waiver, approved by decree in November 2023, of the weekly rest period for certain workers.

While French law requires a rest day after six days’ work, this waiver would allow certain employees to work more than six consecutive days. The CGT and CFDT union confederations are firmly opposed to this measure, and fearing for workers’ health, lodged an appeal with the Council of State at the end of January 2024. According to the unions, this waiver is in total breach of European law and ILO conventions.

“It is not a matter of French legislation adapting to the requirements of the Games. It’s the Games that have to adapt to social rights, which are clearly more advanced in France than in other countries, but they are rights that we have fought for,” says former CGT leader Thibault.

At this stage in the development of the Olympic Games, the Social Charter aims to strike a balance between the operational requirements of the Games and respect for workers’ rights. “We know, for example, that images will be broadcast to all five continents 24 hours a day. We therefore need to be watchful to make sure that the audiovisual workers mobilised have a chance to rest and that their health is not jeopardised,” confirms Martinet.

“If we take a broader view, questions arise about how to guarantee sufficient staff during a period when many people are on holiday. In areas where access to workplaces will be impossible, should we put employees on compulsory leave or resort to short-time working? We are currently looking for solutions to ensure that everything goes as smoothly as possible for the employees, without penalising businesses,” he continues.

Making the Social Charter a legacy for the organisation of major international events

Beyond the organisation and staging of the Olympic Games, the Social Charter aims to have a lasting impact, which its signatories refer to as its legacy. It is crucial, therefore, to assess its impact by analysing its after-effects, as with previous editions of the Olympic Games in London and Rio. This is an important question for Bernard Thibault, who will be looking in particular at the future of these workers after the Games, especially those on fixed-term contracts, such as those in the catering sector, where an estimated 6,000 people are to be hired.

“For us, the issue is to determine whether these individuals will remain in the sector. Given that the restaurant, hotel and catering industry is struggling to find workers, it has to be established whether the Games have enabled some of these workers to find training or stable employment, paving the way for a professional future,” he says.

Beyond its social legacy, sport in the workplace will also be closely observed after the Games. “It’s a clear social need that affects people’s health, well-being and community life. Sport also fosters respect for others and acceptance of differences. This is all the more important at a time when efforts are being made to provoke divisions,” adds Thibault.

The second crucial aspect of this legacy is ensuring that the principles are not only incorporated into future Olympic Games structures, but also other major sporting events. As he confirmed to Equal Times, Martinet of the CFDT has been asked by the French Olympic Committee (CNOSF) and the regional representatives for the 2030 Winter Games in the Alps to replicate the experience of the Charter. For his part, Bernard Thibault also confirmed that preliminary discussions had been held with Californian trade unionists in preparation for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.

“The main benefit is that this experience can be reproduced not only in future games in France but also in the organisation of other large-scale events all over the world,” says Martinet. “The content can easily be adapted to the context of different countries, but the approach and the dynamics of the social charter are perfectly reproducible,” he concludes.

Finally, while warning against the risk of “social washing”, whereby a strong commitment is made to respecting workers’ rights without actually putting in place the actions needed to guarantee it, Le Petit hopes to see the experience of the Paris 2024 Social Charter replicated in other contexts. “We do not want to see Saudi Arabia, which will very probably host the 2034 football World Cup, drawing up such a charter just for appearances’ sake, without a strong commitment and external monitoring by an assessment body such as an NGO or an academic expert,” he insists.

“I have high hopes that thanks to the initiative set up by Paris 2024, this will become an essential prerequisite for organising major sporting and cultural events in France or elsewhere, but with a sincere commitment and rigorous assessment,” concludes Le Petit.