(en) France, Alternative Libertaire AL# 225 Agreements on employment, social dialogue, the weapon (fr)

The government is preparing to transcribe into law a new employment agreement signed on 11 
January by three unions (CFDT, CFTC and CGC) and employers, which would be an 
unprecedented setback for workers. ---- The agreement called "job security" agreements 
considering allowing companies to increase working hours or lower wages to "maintain 
employment." We remember such agreements signed in the past (Continental Clairoix or PSA 
Sevelnord example) but now it blackmail would be engraved in employment law, in 
preparation to be passed by parliament in April. ---- Flexicurity and permanent 
intermittent ---- Moreover, if such an agreement is concluded, any employee will be 
required to comply with them under threat of dismissal, without the company having to 
justify economic hardship to justice. And in the case of a redundancy plan economic 
opportunities of the employee class-es are significantly restricted [ 1 ].

CFDT shouts of victory, because it believes that it is better to give a legal framework to 
use blackmail and has seen many of its claims succeed. Thus part of the employee's rights 
are in-training and unemployment compensation are transferable from one job to another 
(the famous "flexicurity"), employers will have to negotiate additional health "branches" 
and taxation of CSD within three months will increase (the "short contracts" that have 
caused so much ink in the media). All this will cost money Medef, but found there 
generally will be exempt because of unemployment contribution for the first three months 
of wages of an employee under 26 years and hired CDI from the period test [ 2 ].

Icing on the cake for the employers, the intermittent indefinite contract is extended to 
all companies with fewer than 50 employees-es. This contract is the dream of liberal 
ideologues: the employee-e is only paid on the time of year where he works, but without 
the right to unemployment or precarious premiums.

In theory the method that led to the agreement is a model of its kind for both the Social 
Democrats and the "union of dialogue": the "social partners" agree independently of 
government, which simply transcribe the agreement into law. Where the government is shit, 
is that the agreement would be such a setback for the labor law that the CGT and FO did 
not want to sign and parliamentarians PS and EELV have announced that they do not vote .

End of the CGT-CFDT alliance?
Trade union side, it is the end of the wedding night CGT-CFDT, the idyll is already 
seriously undermined in the National Inter following the election of Holland. The leader 
of the CGT-es are now aware of their responsibilities and will no longer be able to 
justify their procrastination by a supposedly necessary compromise with the CFDT. Not at 
all sure that it means that the attention of the CGT refers to his left, toward Solidarity 
and FSU, which also denounced the agreement. The trend will probably rather a retreat into 
self-centered initiatives, like that of October 9, 2012, which is still better than 
nothing. In the meantime, the CGT, and Solidarity have announced plans to mobilize against 
this bill. To be continued ...

Gregory (AL Orleans)

[ 1 ] Thus, a dismissal will be paid in two months for a company of 99 employees and four 
months for 500 employee-es (see the website of the confederation CGT).

[ 2 ] Of course, the CFDT also considers the exemption of employer contribution as a victory!