After words, it's time for action. 48 hours before the end of the 100-day period that the head of state had set to give impetus to the country, the social partners are received at Matignon this Wednesday, July 12. If the Prime Minister had already received the unions bilaterally in mid-May to open a new chapter after the conflict over pensions, this new meeting, in multilateral and with the employers, aims to lead to concrete results. "We want answers to the questions asked in mid-May," said Marylise Léon, the new secretary general of the CFDT. "We want concrete," abounds Boris Plazi, a member of the CGT bureau.
The day after the sequence of retreats, the government promised that it would put work at the heart of the discussion and that on these issues, it did not intend to move forward without the social partners. But there is no shortage of topics. Representatives of employers and workers agreed last week on a busy social agenda, although no surprises emerged. Among other things, we find the issue of the employment of seniors, the universal time savings account as well as follow-up projects of several past agreements.
The social partners hope to see more clearly on the issues that will remain the exclusive preserve of employers and unions - the so-called "autonomous" agenda - and those subject to a framework letter from the government. The latter thus question the room for manoeuvre of negotiation left by the executive. "We want a real social democracy," warns Marylise Léon. The question arises in particular for unemployment insurance, a new agreement of which must be signed before the end of 2023. In order to begin discussions, the joint bodies have long been calling for this framework letter. The executive says it is aware that time is running out. The document should also leave "end of July", says Matignon.
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Resolving disagreements
Still, on other subjects, unions and employers have not been able to agree. Starting with the issue of wages. Employers do not want to hear about any interprofessional obligation. On the contrary, they believe that the decision should be made within each company, according to its capacities, or even at branch level. On the other hand, employee representatives believe that this type of negotiation does not always make it possible to move forward quickly enough. As proof, according to them, the number of branches that have one or more minima below the SMIC. "The employers do not want to hear anything, so we want the intervention of the public force," says Boris Plazi, of the CGT. At the CFDT, we still hope to see emerge "an incentive to negotiate," says the number one. And to mention, among the proposed tracks, the conditionality of public aid.
Unsurprisingly, there are still many points of agreement between the unions, but there is no question of talking about inter-union. "We have discussions but we carry the subjects separately," points out Boris Plazi. The same goes for the reformist: "We did not prepare the meeting together," confirms Marylise Léon.
In addition to these many topics, this meeting will also be an opportunity to see for the first time several new faces brought together within the social landscape. Thus the number one of the CGT, Sophie Binet, will be accompanied by Marylise Léon, who took the reins of the CFDT on June 21 and Patrick Martin, who was elected on July 6 at the head of the Medef. The latter will, however, be accompanied by his predecessor Geoffroy Roux de Bézieux, who will participate in his last multilateral. The end of an era and the beginning of a new one.