Elisabeth Borne hangs a sword of Damocles over the social partners

2023-11-27 17:37:00

It’s a little thunderclap that the government has just caused among the social partners. Matignon chose not to approve the unemployment insurance agreement of certain unions (CFDT, CFTC, FO) and employers (Medef, CPME, U2P). And had so much difficulty negotiating this fall. Unheard of in years. Indeed, the executive believes that it does not have enough guarantees regarding compensation for seniors to ratify this agreement, just concluded on November 15.

Senior employment in the government’s sights

Bruno Le Maire last week on France Info gave the “la”. Before flying to New Caledonia, the Minister of the Economy said that he did not see why seniors had a different duration of compensation from the rest of the population. Seniors are in fact compensated for longer than other job seekers. The words of the tenant of Bercy had raised eyebrows in the social community. But few thought it was much more than a trial balloon, as politicians are wont to launch.

It was a way of putting pressure on the social partners. And for good reason, this Monday morning, several union representatives received a call from the government explaining to them that the compromise found during the last social negotiations on unemployment insurance would not be approved as it stands.

The surprise of the social partners

The government assures that it wants to be sure that savings will indeed be made in terms of compensation for job seekers over 55 years old. It must be said that this specific question of seniors has been referred to another negotiation (in other words: a negotiation within the negotiation) which must open soon. Having no guarantees Hard » that the social partners will negotiate well on this subject and keep their word, the executive therefore puts a sword of Damocles over their heads. Indeed, the government plans to issue a decree of righteousness, which might cover up to 6 months – that is to say until next June – so that they can negotiate on the employment of seniors.

However, the social partners have already planned in the future agreement to make 440 million euros in savings at Unedic on the employment of seniors. “The costing seems credible to us, the intention suits us, but we want this quantum, like the method, to have certainty”, assures Matignon. It is true that the agreement is not very explicit on the application of the pension reform to the rules for compensating older job seekers. In other words, the concrete measures to achieve this are not clearly enshrined in the agreement. Hence this government analysis, “we are waiting to see that the account will be there. »

Shared social partners

The fact remains that this decision to suspend the approval of the convention is already causing turmoil among certain social partners. Contacted by the Tribune, several union leaders – CGT and FO in particular – said they were shocked by this decision. For them, it is yet another lack of respect for social dialogue by the executive. “It’s a blow to the contract of trust that we might have had”, assures Michel Beaugas, of Force Ouvrière. The CFDT or the employers are more nuanced. They prefer to look at the glass half full. “ They might also have not approved at all, as some within the government want », pleads an employer source. “It’s understandable,” still pleads the Belleville power plant.

« That they do not pretend to misunderstand, on the contrary it is a mark of confidence », assures, for his part, a government source. And to add: “ We set a framework. We cannot validate a conditional agreement. The agreement will be respected as soon as the unions have carried out the negotiations to which they committed ».

Feverish regarding rating agencies?

Many also see in this choice an extreme excitement on the part of the government towards the rating agencies. The Standard & Poor’s agency must release its rating of France’s debt this Friday, December 1st. The executive wants to show that it can still reform, and in particular find savings in unemployment insurance.

Especially at a time when the unemployment rate is rising, and the economy is contracting. Unlike the reforms of the intermittent workers’ regime, or a pension reform, likely to create social tensions, and put French people on the street, the government knows that modifying the rules for compensation for job seekers does not give rise to any mobilization in public opinion.

However, the executive is committed to its objective of full employment by the end of the five-year term. Matignon has also launched a reflection on the subject. Among the avenues studied is the possibility of reviewing the terms of the conventional termination, as revealed by the Tribune Dimanche. Elisabeth Borne will bring together her ministers at the beginning of December to consider new reform options in this area.

In the meantime, these are the current unemployment insurance rules which should extend beyond January 1 and run until June 1, 2024. Unless the social partners reach an agreement before… .