(en) France, Organisation Communiste Libertarie (OCL-lyon) - Courant Alternatif #246 - Social, PATTERNS AND ENHANCE THEIR GOVERNMENT OFFENSIVE (fr)

(en) France, Organisation Communiste Libertarie (OCL-lyon) -
Courant Alternatif #246 - Social, PATTERNS AND ENHANCE THEIR
GOVERNMENT OFFENSIVE (fr) [machine translation]

The current government took over from the previous to continue to provide critical tools 
for employers, legislating degradation recorded balance of power on the ground and drawing 
a new operating model (1). ---- Those who have the economic power fiercely defend their 
interests. Unable to count (short-term) growth to continue to make profits, it is for them 
to capture the largest possible share of wealth in order to boost capital accumulation. 
For this they are increasingly demanding measures in their favor. Governments, whatever 
their label follow them in their rapacity strategy by liberalizing the labor market and 
cutting public spending. This obviously corresponds to the needs shown by the Troika (2) 
and applied by states with great brutality throughout Europe, plunging the population in 
poverty and misery.

The French state, it is pointed for being too slow to introduce so-called structural 
reforms to "clean up" the public accounts and to make the French economy more 
"competitive". In the name of economic recovery and debt repayment, the government works 
to continue the development of a new operating model based on a reduction of the misnamed 
"cost" of labor and maximum flexibility which aims to provide safe bosses and financiers. 
A so they ever greater favors; its-workers or unemployed ever greater reductions in their 
meager guarantees.

Capitalism lays down the law...

Strong concessions already obtained --against the pension reforms and Unedic, the national 
interprofessional agreement (ANI) on competitiveness and security of employment, 
competitive employment tax credit (CICE), the pact responsibility (see box)...-, 
employers' organizations, the MEDEF head, speaks out their demands, not hesitating to 
mobilize and take to the streets to "free enterprise" and obtain the gradual dismantling 
of all social legislation. The proposals made by Gattaz in September in his little yellow 
book (sic) entitled 1 million jobs... it's possible! Had appeared provocative in their 
excess, tearing screams of outrage union leaders. Or they point solely to, for the most 
part the measures the government plans to implement.

Among the most emblematic proposals boss of MEDEF, include the removal of two holidays a 
year, exceptions to the statutory working hours and minimum wages for some, her unemployed 
(wages below the minimum wage, offset by compensation the state, which would cost a third 
less to the company), authorization to open shops in the evenings and on Sundays, the 
elimination of the tax on financial transactions, the reopening of unemployment benefits 
folder considered too generous, the retirement age of decline, the creation of a contract 
"zero expenses" apprentices, removal of taxation (local, energy, environmental, etc.) on 
industrial tools, removing tax wealth (ISF), the creation in all sectors "project 
contracts" (new type of work contract ending once the project is completed), the 
questioning of social thresholds in business... In the book "French, we're moving! 
"Published in October Gattaz drives the point and identifies" cultural evils "hit. The 
first, he said, is "a persistent struggle of latent classes (3) which continues to 
influence French politics, some media, some unions and, more or less subliminal, our 
administration. This "Trotskyism" hidden is probably the most motivating element for the 
forces of our country, and for the French bosses. "

... The State applies to set to music...

Business, financial and government have the same partition, even if for the gallery, they 
play one-upmanship and sometimes pretend to bicker. Macron and, upon his appointment in 
August as Minister of Economy, launched the idea of allowing companies to waive the 35 
hours and the minimum wage. Valls, before him, in 2011, declared that he had to "unlock 
35h" and in August, before the MEDEF, he said he was ready to finish the job code in the 
direction of management. Fabius, at the same time, questioned the Labour Code, the 35h, 
the retirement age, social thresholds, work on Sundays; as many bolts, which he 
contributed to "reduce too weak corporate margins." We'll talk again of a pension reform, 
and begin additional (Agirc for executives and Arrco for all employee-es private). While 
these attacks against its workers-not all the order of the day, but much has already been 
completed and others are coming in the short term.

Here are some examples.

In early summer 2014, announcing the postponement to 2016 of the establishment of the 
account drudgery (4), Valls made a gift to patrons who considered the measure 
"inapplicable" and "anxiety". Yet it was already completely revised downwards in terms of 
funding and number of hardship criteria.

The 50 measures of the law of "administrative simplification" of October 18 are intended 
primarily to facilitate the lives of patrons. For example: relief obligations of labor law 
in the protection and employee-es security (medical, definition of skills or professional 
ineptitude) modification discount protection rules, notably on dangerous machinery and 
work at height to facilitate the hiring of apprentices. Open negotiations in early October 
should lead to a reform of representative institutions and social dialogue in the 
workplace. The goal is to always release a little more employers respect their social and 
fiscal obligations rights of employee-es. One of the stumbling thresholds based on social 
issues upon which the rules are employee-representation in business: appointment of staff 
delegates from ten employee-es, creation of a works council if more than 50 employees, etc...

These staffing levels are perceived as "a brake on recruitment and growth" by employers' 
organizations, and the labor minister himself believes they "penalize business "and 
proposes suspension for 3 years. More generally, employers would like the collective 
bargaining rules are decided at the company level and the rules on representative bodies 
(Works Committee, Health and Safety Committee -... CHST) established by the Code the work 
may be freely adapted in each company. Labour law - Contractual and legal guarantees 
contained in the classical wage relation - still offers some meager guarantees to 
employee-es. Now it is gradually unraveled to serve as an adjustment variable: "Overall, 
we propose to simplify the labor code and reverse the hierarchy of norms. (...) Tomorrow 
is the company that everything has to happen "(Gattaz).

While most of social regulation occurs at the level of the industry or business, it gives 
maximum freedom bosses. This practice is already nearly universal, supported by 
legislation which supplies last ten years deconstruction of labor law (5) that allows 
foultitudes favorable exceptions to the bosses. This dismantling of social legislation is 
in the process to continue, so as to atomize the maximum employee-es and the growing 
imbalance of power between labor and capital. The new measures that is set to take the 
government with Macron Bill "activity and equal economic opportunity", to be discussed in 
parliament in January 2015, also meet this objective, "remove all blockages "to the 
realization of profits.

One component of the bill is the "assouplisement" of the law on Sunday work and evening by 
extending shop opening hours. The text provides that non-food stores will open Sunday 5 / 
year on request (not prior authorization) and the mayors will give the opening until 
Sunday 12 / year in total (6). In addition, it creates "international tourist areas", 
including stations, which work on Sundays and evenings would be the norm. The employee-es 
should be voluntary (joke, given the precariousness of employee-es of trade...) and would 
receive a "wage compensation" negotiated at branch level (another joke, given the state of 
the power relations and the greed of the bosses). The purpose of this law is actually more 
ideological than economic: it is to impose the trivialization of work at any time, to more 
flexible and precarious excessive, even destroy the rhythms of life, health employee-es, 
and rot them a little more life. This also helps to institutionalize more exemptions as a 
management mode.

The government also listen to the European authorities...

The European Commission requires that France reconsider once again its copy on structural 
reforms and budget cuts by March 2015 to get "in conformity" with the "stability and 
growth pact". Yet it is more than five years of fiscal austerity measures are taken. Not 
only must reimburse public resource losses due to tens of billions of exemptions from 
employer contributions and taxes, but also reduce the public deficit, thus conforming to 
the European orthodoxy. Hence the draconian austerity plan introduced this year by the 
government in conjunction with the responsibility pact 50 billion cuts in state budgets by 
2017, in addition to 15 billion reductions in 2014 are planned for all-out budget cuts: 
cuts for civil servants (job cuts, freezing or reducing wages) and local authorities 
(lower transfers, reduced allocations); cuts in social security (pensions, health 
insurance, unemployment...) cuts in public services (hospital closures, classes...) 
freezing of social benefits; privatization (social security, health care, state companies 
called "public" administrations...) continued divestiture of certain assets of the 
State... These measures entailing the constant deterioration of public facilities and 
public services, reinforce inequalities both social and territorial and occurs mainly the 
most vulnerable populations, women, the young, the popular classes.

But these restrictions are not yet sufficient: several provisions on "work more" in the 
catalog of measures regularly raised in favor of the "French growth" by the OECD and the 
Troika. Besides Macron is all ready to take into account the recommendations of economists 
and Pisani-Ferry Enderlein designed to bring the French and German economies. For France, 
Pisani-Ferry, General Commissioner strategy and foresight, suggests to arrange working 
time "without questioning the legal duration of 35 hours" and to ease the conditions of 
the CDI (cost and time dismissal) "in order to encourage its use." It also calls for 
greater indexing wages to productivity and including SMIC.

New projects are therefore likely to be opened following these recommendations that invite 
one hand to continue the austerity measures in order to "reduce public expenditure to 50% 
of GDP in the coming years," the other to complete the construction of a model of maximum 
flexibility in the labor market and in pieces of labor law.

Thus the so-called law of "security of employment" (ANI April 2013), which serves the 
business interests completely, could be made more "offensive" again. The agreements 
contained in the Act are the facilities provided for two years to employers whose business 
is in trouble (7); they do not allow for as many derogate from 35h. But as it is possible 
to play on the organization of work and lower pay, it can happen that the employees who 
work on more without touching more. The idea of Macron would go further by making these 
agreements used by the bosses even when they do not encounter "serious difficulties" and 
extending their duration to more than two years. For their part, the owners would want the 
agreements signed with employee representatives, automatically binding the employee-es and 
if they refuse, they are forced to resign altogether. This is to avoid laying them before 
their severance payments. Changes of this type aggravating ANI may be traded in January, 
employers and trade unions to come together to make the balance sheet.

As for the minimum wage, Macron denies wanting to change the calculation. Yet the debate 
on the creation of a sub-minimum wage returns as a refrain for several years. After Gattaz 
which launched the idea of an "intermediate minimum wage" for young people or for those 
"who can not find work," Lamy (former WTO Director) expressed support for "jobs not 
necessarily paid the minimum wage. " As for Macron, he sided with his German counterpart 
to estimate a convergence of minimum wages in the two countries in 10 years was "a good 
horizon." Whether to come to an alignment of the German and French minimum wage, we expect 
that it is the German minimum wage, below 10%, which will serve as a standard...

As for CDI, considered by employers as a stiffness factor, it is always attacked as 
standard labor law. Hires on permanent contracts decreased by 10.5% and CSD become the 
rule; their share of hires 86% of recruitment in early 2013, and contracts for less than a 
month has doubled in 10 years. ANI has innovated by introducing several sectors the CDII, 
Intermittent permanent contract (!) When working a few months, we see his smooth earnings 
over the year, as his right to unemployment benefits.... The imagination knows no bounds 
when it comes to decline increasingly precarious employment contracts.

We have not finished with measures to "unlock" the "brakes" bosses and financial, to 
"liberate" their potential for exploitation to increase their profits... Expect to a 
significant deterioration of social conditions, which will undoubtedly lead to an increase 
in social tensions. So that they translate into collective movements capable of breaking 
the offensive of the capitalists and open new emancipatory perspectives, must more than 
ever seek to (re) create a balance of power.

Kris, 19 December 2014

Covenant of responsibility

Adopted by the law last summer, the pact reduces again social contributions of the bosses. 
By 2017, 41 billion euros per year will be allocated to them, without any consideration of 
their own, in the form of exemptions and reductions of contributions and taxes, including 
the $ 20 billion already granted under the competitive employment tax credit (CICE, 
adopted in December 2012 and paid via a VAT increase by 3% since January 2014). A pact 
welcomed even more favorably by the MEDEF that it was the inspiration with his "confidence 
pact" proposed in November 2013. 36 billion to EUR social contributions made each year by 
the private business owners will and deleted; it is an additional blow to the financing of 
social security and solidarity benefits. In addition, the pact contains new incentives for 
employers to pay the least possible employee-es; from 2015, employer contributions for any 
salary paid at the minimum wage will be completely deleted.

Notes

1 - This article presents some of the "devices" government to come that will exacerbate 
the situation of workers-with or without its use. Are not addressed by the analysis of the 
current social climate nor the question of perspectives of struggles, which should be the 
subject of another article.

2 - The European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

3 - Irony: Gattaz recognizes the existence of the class struggle, while the CFDT Berger 
denies: "Unionism is useful for employees and for businesses. If this is not clear to 
employers, it means that is still in the class struggle. "

4 - Consideration of the strain at work, accompanying the-against pension reform passed in 
December 2013, was presented as a consideration for its workers-of; it was to come into 
force on 1 January 2015...

5 - Collective bargaining agreements have become a management tool for flexibility. The 
law of 20 August 2004 abolished the principle of allowing for an enterprise agreement to 
waive a less favorable to a higher agreed and even the law in 32 areas, such as precarious 
contracts, duration and work organization. So lhi?rarchie standards is contested: the 
employee-es can no longer refuse an amendment to their contract of employment if a company 
agreement provides.

6 - Hostile voice rising in the ranks of the government and the PS, the number of days 
authorized opening could be reduced.

7 - The boss, rather than dismiss, may require employee-es reclassifications, forced 
mobility, schedule changes and wage cuts, this without warranty maintenance jobs. 
Employee's refusal may result in his dismissal, he can not contest because the dismissal 
may be described as "for personal reasons".

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