Unemployment insurance: the financing of France Travail contested by the social partners

2023-09-22 05:21:00

After a first meeting on the calendar, on September 12, the negotiators meet at the Unédic headquarters in Paris, to try to find an agreement by November 10.

France Travail will need additional resources to support nearly 2 million RSA beneficiaries for whom it will be responsible, in addition to the unemployed.

To the great dismay of the social partners, the executive wants to contribute 12% to 13% of its revenue to unemployment insurance (Unédic) by 2026, compared to 11% today, according to the letter from framework sent by the government to trade unions and employers’ organizations on August 1.

Medef contests “fundamentally the elements of the framework document which proposes co-financing from Unédic to France Travail”recalled Hubert Mongon, the leader of the negotiators of the main employers’ organization, at the beginning of September.

According to him, “we cannot accept that the State continues to blur the responsibilities and financing methods of the various employment policy measures”.

“The trade union organizations say together that the framework letter regarding unemployment insurance is unacceptable, that they refuse to comply with it and that they want to be able to negotiate in complete autonomy”declared Thursday the general secretary of the CGT Sophie Binet, during her back-to-school press conference.

“All the union organizations agree that we are going to ‘push the framework’”also assured AFP of FO number one Frédéric Souillot, for whom “once once more, the ‘state croupiers’ want to get their hands on the money” social partners.

The 2018 law requires social partners to negotiate within the framework defined by the government, recalls Renaissance MP Marc Ferracci.

“The social partners may not want to respect the framework document provided for by law. But in this case, the government will be justified in not endorsing the agreement which will have been signed“, he explained to AFP.

Eight meetings

Hubert Mongon expresses doubts regarding the amount of unemployment insurance surpluses planned by the government for the years to come, and which would allow Unédic to make greater contributions.

“We observe substantial gaps between the work carried out by Unédic this summer and the macro-economic elements proposed to us by the government” on growth or changes in unemployment in the years to come, explained the employers’ negotiator.

Unédic experts must present new projections to negotiators, according to Mr. Mongon.

The first meeting on September 12 made it possible to set a schedule of eight meetings between now and November 10.

In addition to the short time allocated, the framework set by the government sets in stone the reforms already undertaken in recent years.

The government document thus prohibits social partners from questioning the method of calculating compensation, which has been less favorable since 2019 for job seekers alternating between unemployment and short contracts.

There is also no question of returning to the modulation of compensation rules according to the economic situation: since February 1, 2023, the duration of compensation has been reduced by 25% and will only be extended in the event of significant deterioration. economic.

This measure, like the new method of calculating compensation, is defended by employers. The latter, however, is opposed to “bonus malus”this upward or downward modulation of the unemployment insurance contribution rate of companies in certain sectors (transport for example) which abuse precarious contracts, “bonus malus” which the government also wants to maintain.

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