There is still a form of life in the sphere of paritarianism. Invited by the government to discuss unemployment insurance and senior employment, unions and employers reached two draft agreements on these issues on Thursday, November 14, at the end of a long day of talks . They even wrote a third – on their own initiative – devoted to“evolution of social dialogue”. The parties involved will now consult their authorities to decide whether they approve these texts – their position to be decided in the days to come.
It seems certain that Medef and the Union of Local Businesses (U2P) will initial the three documents. The CFDT and the CFTC give the feeling of going in the same direction. Force Ouvrière (FO), it will say either yes to everything, or no to everything, after having appreciated the” balance “ overall compromises worked out. As for other organizations, they should only endorse one or two agreements. If the number of signatories is sufficient, the measures developed can then be applied, knowing that several of them require a law or decrees.
In the event that the spirit of harmony prevails, the social actors will have demonstrated that they still know how to do useful work and that the failure, in April, of their negotiation on a “new pact for life at work” was, perhaps, just an accident, now forgotten. The executive did not wait for the protagonists to make an official decision. Thursday morning, he welcomed the end of the work carried out by representatives of business leaders and employees. “This demonstrates that the method, which is that of the Prime Minister, of leaving room for social dialogue, is bearing fruit”declared Maud Bregeon, government spokesperson, on Franceinfo.
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The first stone laid at the end of these negotiations, which opened on October 22, concerns unemployment insurance. New provisions are designed, through a “endorsement” to the agreement which was concluded in November 2023. The text, endorsed at the time by employers and three unions (CFDT, CFTC, FO), had not received the green light from the government of Gabriel Attal, at spring, but it was able to be taken up as a basis for talks this fall, with the imprimatur of the Prime Minister, Michel Barnier.
Beyond expectations
The protocol drawn up on Thursday evening must result in a new « convention » governing the conditions of compensation for job seekers for four years, from 1is January 2025. It should lead to a reduction in spending of nearly 2.48 billion euros over the period 2025-2028, then will ultimately bring in 1.7 billion each year, at cruising speed. Which goes beyond the expectations expressed by Astrid Panosyan-Bouvet: the Minister of Labor had asked negotiators to find measures to “generate 400 million euros in additional savings annually”.
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