Champagne producers' bid to spruce up sector image

Epernay - French champagne producers are looking to restore their damaged reputations after four workers died last year amid hot weather, as authorities closed squalid housing and launched probes into suspected human trafficking.

This harvest, the vineyards are taking steps to better protect workers from abuse, in a bid to uphold the reputation of the renowned sparkling wines.

"We have called for the entire sector to mobilise," said Maxime Toubart, who heads the country's Champagne Growers' Association.

Since the grape harvest kicked off this month, members of the CGT trade union have been handing out flyers to grape pickers, many of whom are Eastern Europeans.

The leaflets come in eight languages including Polish, Russian, Ukrainian, Italian and French, and inform labourers of their rights, including the minimum hourly wage, the limit on working hours and mandatory breaks.

"Hello, we have come to inform you of your rights," CGT trade unionists told a gaggle of workers picking Pinot Noir grapes in the small village of Igny-Comblizy.