Thursday January 16, the majority of socialist deputies decided not to support the motion of censure tabled by La France insoumise against the government of François Bayrou. With only 131 votes in favor, including 8 socialists out of 66, the text remained far from the 289 votes necessary to overthrow the executive. While the PS highlighted the concessions obtained, the party's decision aroused strong tensions on the left, where accusations of betrayal rose from the ranks of the rebels. “The PS fractures the NFP, but it capitulates alone”, denounced Jean-Luc Mélenchon the same day on the social network.
The anathemas against the PS increased on Saturday and Sunday, when activists discovered information from the media Acteurs publics. On “maintain the reduction (from 100 to 90%) in the “replacement rate” of the remuneration of public officials during their sick leave”, during the first three months. The text defended by the Minister of Public Action, Laurent Marcangeli, was examined and adopted in the Senate on Saturday afternoon.
Concessions by François Bayrou
Citing the post of journalist Bastien Scordia, LFI deputy Hadrien Clouet made irony about the naivety of the socialists, duped by François Bayrou, whose promises “will have lasted twenty-four hours”.
On Sunday, Jean-Luc Mélenchon also targeted the socialists on RTL, accusing them of having 'deceived everyone» : “The government […] has just proposed to the Senate: “Ok I waive the three days of waiting but I reduce the reimbursement by 10%”. So much so that the new measure which is taken in the name of waiving the three days of waiting brings the government three times more savings than the previous measure. This is what the Socialist Party got: lies, smoke”.
What did François Bayrou promise to the socialists? Thursday January 16, the day of the motion of censure, the presidents of the socialist groups in the National Assembly and the Senate received a letter from the Prime Minister stating his concessions. He assured that “in the expenditure part of the finance bill, the government will confirm […] the abandonment of two waiting days for public officials”.
While this measure was part of the savings planned by the Barnier government before its fall, its abandonment aroused the satisfaction of the unions. The PS, in a press release published on January 16, praised “an opposition which achieves victories for the French” and also mentioned, in the list of “victories”: “The change from one to three days of waiting time in the civil service has been abandoned.”
On the other hand, as noted Liberationthe abandonment of the project to reduce the rate of compensation for sick leave for public employees, another measure planned by the Barnier government, was not mentioned in the letter listing Bayrou's concessions to the PS. No more than it was in the PS press release listing the “victories” won. In an AFP dispatch published Thursday, a few minutes before the vote on the motion of censure, the secretary general of the Unsa civil service, Luc Farré, deplored for his part that “the removal of this measure does not seem to be on the agenda”.
-The maintenance of this measure is not really a surprise. On January 15, the Minister of Public Accounts, Amélie de Montchalin, announced the color on TF1: “On the waiting days, it was discussed by the Minister of the Civil Service and the unions not necessarily to go for two days of elimination, but to maintain the measure which means that we are only compensated at 90 % of his salary. It will be discussed in the Senate.” Difficult, in his conditions, to affirm like Hadrien Clouet that Bayrou betrayed a promise. Since he never formulated it.
A request from the PS
However, the government's amendment lowering the replacement rate for the remuneration of public agents during their sick leave somewhat weakens the concession that the PS prided itself on obtaining concerning the return on the elimination of waiting days. Speaking to AFP, the secretary general of FO civil service, Christian Grolier, insisted Thursday on the fact that the reduction in a compensation rate represented a greater saving for the State, and therefore a greater loss for the civil servants: “If the minister keeps the 10% reduction in compensation for days off work, that’s where it hits the agents’ wallets the hardest.”
In September 2024, a report from the General Inspectorate of Social Affairs and the General Inspectorate of Finance, commissioned by Gabriel Attal, estimated that the elimination of the three days of waiting could make it possible to save 289 million euros per year. year. While that aimed at reducing compensation by 10% for sick leave was estimated at 900 million euros.
Contacted by CheckNewsthe socialist deputy Jérôme Guedj ensures that the PS has made its opposition to the measure known: “We have consistently expressed our opposition to the “sick leave for civil servants” measure, both in terms of waiting days and in terms of lowering the ceiling.” What the member for Essonne repeated on X, writing: ““Touching” state medical aid, reducing compensation for sick leave for civil servants, imposing a day of free work (seven hours) to finance social security: that was a no before. It’s always no.” In fact, and as revealed Libé, the list of 37 demands from the PS to the government not to vote for censorship included the increase from one to three days of waiting time in the civil service but also the reduction of their support.
But the failure of the socialists to win their case on this second point did not prevent them from validating the compromise. Asked about this, Jérôme Guedj and Olivier Faure did not respond to our request.
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