2023-10-05 01:10:00
LPrivate sector retirees will soon receive more. From Wednesday 1is November, their supplementary pensions will be increased by 4.9%, in line with inflation, announced the trade union and employer organizations managing the Agirc-Arrco scheme, who have yet to sign the agreement reached on the night of Wednesday 4 to Thursday October 5. Without definitively promising to sign, several organizations, including the CFDT and the Medef, judged the agreement “balanced”. The deadline for signing the agreement has been set for Wednesday October 11.
Between 2024 and 2026, the revaluation of pensions might be less: depending on the economic situation, the increase might be under-indexed by a maximum of 0.4 points below inflation. But the board of directors of the joint body may choose to bring it back to the level of inflation.
The penalty will disappear
Another development in favor of former private sector employees: the “malus”, a temporary reduction of 10% which has applied since 2019 to the pensions of many retirees who left having met all the legal conditions, will be eliminated from 1is December for new retirees, then from April for all retirees concerned, they indicated.
This “penalty” was intended to encourage employees to work one more year even though they had met all the legal conditions to leave. Otherwise, they saw their pension cut by 10% for three years. Conversely, a bonus was granted for two to four years of additional work. It will be kept for those who are not affected by the reform.
Agirc-Arrco pays nearly 90 billion euros each year to 13 million retirees. This additional part represents between 20% of the total pension for precarious employees and 60% for certain executives.
Refusal of financial pipe to the State
In addition to this draft agreement, unions and employers have also shown a common front in the face of the executive’s desire to drain Agirc-Arrco’s reserves, which FO negotiator Michel Beaugas considers to be a “misappropriation of funds” . The executive is demanding one to three billion annually from Agirc-Arrco by 2030, which it first presented as participation in the increase in the contributory minimum (small pensions) provided for by its pension reform, before finally evoking a duty of “solidarity” between regimes with a view to a global “return to balance”.
Otherwise, he threatens to help himself to the cash registers. The executive argues the good financial health of the regime, its 68 billion in reserves, and new revenues brought by the pension reform (estimated by Agirc-Arrco at 22 billion over fifteen years).
According to the unions, such a drain would jeopardize Agirc-Arrco and its ability to increase pensions in the future. According to a source close to the matter, one billion is equivalent to 1.1% revaluation. The plan also operates with a “golden rule” which requires keeping six months of advance payments in reserve over a period of fifteen years. “We all resist. We refuse to sign a check to the government,” summarized Christelle Thieffinne (CFE-CGC).
READ ALSO Agirc-Arrco: employers prescribe shock treatment to replenish the coffersThe social partners have chosen not to provide any “financial pipe to the State” in their agreement. But an article provides for the launch of work aimed at internal “solidarity” measures within the regime, via a working group, with a view to a new agreement by the end of the first half of 2024. The CPME regretted to the press that this agreement does not directly refer to small pensions.
They want a possible future boost to small pensions to only be “targeted” at those who depend on the Agirc Arrco, not on the general system.
The social partners were looking for a solution “so that it only goes to those who have less than 85% of the minimum wage and depend on the Agirc Arrco”, not the general regime, explained Pascale Coton (CFTC).
“Despite pressure from the executive during this negotiation, the social partners moved forward together,” rejoiced Medef negotiator Diane Milleron-Deperrois. “We have a balance between preserving the purchasing power of retirees and the financial sustainability of the scheme over time”, negotiated “independently”. “If the government persists, it should take responsibility,” she said.
With the social conference on October 16, organizations will have “sufficient space to express themselves to the Prime Minister,” underlined the FO negotiator. Maybe she’ll listen to reason. »
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