While Emmanuel Macron wonders how to relaunch the pension reform, the social partners are looking for their part on the future of the private supplementary pension scheme, undermined by the health crisis.
Trade unions and employers' organizations, managers of the Agirc-Arrco scheme which annually pays 80 billion euros in pensions to 13 million private retirees, are meeting on Monday to examine the state of the scheme which has gone out of the way that 'they had stared at him.
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"
We have alerted the social partners, because the initial assumptions are no longer respected
", indicates Didier Weckner (Medef), chairman of the board of directors of Agirc-Arrco.
"
The Covid crisis means that we no longer respect the parameters, we must therefore agree to see if we move something
", confirms Brigitte Pisa (CFDT), vice-president.
On the one hand, the scheme has a deficit of around 4.5 billion euros, due to short-time working and the loss of activity which have generated less income from contributions.
On the other hand, reserves have fallen from 65 to 61 billion euros, and the rule that they represent at least six months of benefits may no longer be held by 2033.
Three solutions on the table
The first meeting, this Monday, should allow the social partners to agree on the figures.
During the following sessions, they will have to decide on the measures to be taken to adjust the shot.
Unions and employers are giving themselves three weeks to agree and sign an amendment to the previous agreement dating from 2019, or outright renegotiate a new national inter-professional agreement (ANI).
"
We will look at the figures, then everyone thinks and comes back with proposals,
cautiously indicates Frédéric Sève (CFDT).
But the regime is strong. We must first see the possible developments, depending on the nature of the recovery.
The employers are determined to raise the bar. “
We expect the social partners to act. We have to find a plan to return to balance and a strategy to rebuild reserves,
”says Éric Chevée (CPME).
There are only three solutions for this: increase contributions, lower pensions or raise the retirement age.
With a possible mix.
Already, a consensus is emerging not to increase contributions, already at a record level, and this is not the time to end the crisis.
"
It would be the spiral of death to break the recovery
", asserts the Medef.
Another solution: freeze the evolution of pensions.
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A solution that involves going back on the 2019 agreement providing that they would be indexed to inflation until 2022. The employers are in favor. "
Employees have suffered more from the crisis than retirees,
" explains Éric Chevée. But the unions do not want to touch the purchasing power of retirees, the CGT refusing to oppose "
the interests of workers and retirees
". Ditto at FO. "
No question of deindexing pensions
", says Michel Beaugas, who proposes, rather, "
to accept, over a limited period of time, to have 40% of reserves instead of 50%
".
Finally, the last solution, raise the age.
The social partners have already set up, since January 1, 2019, a bonus / penalty system around a pivotal age of 63 years to encourage employees in the private sector - even those having all their quarters - to delay their departure from a year.
Otherwise, a 10% discount is applied to their pension for three years.
The mechanism was to be reviewed in 2021, but already unions consider it ineffective.
“
This bonus-malus did not change behavior.
Only 50% of people left a year later, the rest left with the discount.
And that only brought in $ 325 million to the regime.
In short, it does not work,
”observes Frédéric Sève.
“
We have to stop, it's not convincing,
” confirms Michel Beaugas.
Longer or harder haircut
On the employers' side, it is estimated that if the system is not effective, it is because it does not provide enough incentive: there should be a longer or harder discount.
In any case, there is no question of going back.
"
Impossible to send the political signal that raising the age is useless
", indicates Éric Chevée, the employers campaigning to increase to 64 years the age limit for the general system ...
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One thing is certain: unions and employers have an interest in getting along and showing the government that they are responsible managers.
It is a sine qua non condition if they want to save the role of parity in the future pension reform.