Unions want justice for worker who died on Paris Olympics construction site

RFI
·1 min read

Trade unionists and relatives of a Malian worker who died on a construction site for the Paris Olympic Games gathered to demand recognition and justice. Their homage came on the eve of World Day for Safety and Health at Work.

In total, around a hundred union activists and family members, some in tears, gathered on Saturday afternoon in the pouring rain at the scene of the tragedy to demand "recognition and justice for Amara".

51-year-old team leader, Amara Dioumassy died on 16 June, 2023 on the construction site of the Austerlitz basin intended to improve the quality of the Seine river water for swimming events during the Paris Olympics.

The site is due to be inaugurated next week.

An employee of the Darras et Jouanin company, Dioumassy was hit by a construction truck which was reversing without a warning alarm, according to his colleagues who denounced serious safety breaches on the site.

Dangerous deadlines

Lyes Chouaï, CGT union leader from SADE, a subsidiary of Veolia which was working on the site says Diomassy's death has been pushed under the carpet.

This project "really seemed unacceptable to us in terms of safety standards" Chouaï pointed out to French news agency AFP.

"We had to move quickly to meet deadlines", he said, adding "there was no marking on the ground of the direction of movement of the vehicles".