Laurent Berger asked the government on Wednesday to "renounce" as soon as possible the application of the new rules for calculating the unemployment benefit for precarious workers, already threatened by the economic consequences linked to the new coronavirus in several sectors. activity.
"Precarious workers, those who alternate small contracts, will be the first affected" by the economic consequences of the coronavirus, warned on Franceinfo the secretary general of the CFDT, asking the Minister of Labor, Muriel Pénicaud, to " quickly renounce ”the measures of the unemployment insurance reform which are to come into force on April 1.
New unemployment insurance measures: "We must give it up (…) it will be extremely brutal for a whole bunch of workers", explains Laurent Berger, general secretary of the CFDT pic.twitter.com/x1cRNbGrV7
- franceinfo (@franceinfo) March 11, 2020"Whenever there is an economic difficulty - and there it is and this is only the beginning - it is the precarious workers who pay the highest price," continued Laurent Berger, citing the example of those working in events, tourism or catering, sectors already affected by a drop in activity.
"Over a million workers affected"
In three separate press releases, the CFDT, FO and the CGT asked the government on Tuesday to renounce the second wave of changes to the rules for calculating unemployment benefit under the unemployment insurance reform. This reform aims to put an end to a situation currently more favorable, for the same amount of work, to people alternating short contracts and inactivity than to those working continuously.
Describing the measures "deeply unfair", Laurent Berger estimated that "more than a million workers will be affected by a drop ranging from 20 to 45% of their unemployment compensation".
If "business support measures and short-time work measures are needed for employees" affected by the effects of the coronavirus, it would be "abnormal and unfair not to also have a measure of support for precarious workers", added the union official.