The upper house of Parliament voted on Wednesday in favor of an amendment establishing a new day of solidarity. Defended by the right and the center, and voted with 216 votes in favor and 119 against, this measure doubles the annual “free” work day from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m.
In fact, since 2004 there has already been a solidarity day. In this way, companies will see their solidarity contribution for autonomy (CSA) increase from 0.3% to 0.6%, thus generating an additional 2.5 billion euros to finance the autonomy branch of Social Security. The truth is that it will be difficult for the measure to be accepted by public opinion. The unions are already strongly opposed to this amendment.
A measure unanimously criticized
First of all, what is criticized is the government’s way of acting. The CGT considers that “this measure is being imposed on us without any discussion with the unions. The senators are not the representatives of the workers, they are us.”
Most of the unions contacted by BFM Business denounce an unfair way of doing things, which places the burden of balancing the budget on employees.
If the CGT and the CFTC do not oppose autonomy being financed with employer and labor contributions, the rules must be “the same for all.” Éric Gautron, FO confederal secretary in charge of social protection, confirms it: “This PLFSS is Lépine’s competition for bad ideas, which consist of always making employees pay.” For FO, we must return to something “rebalanced” and put an end to the exemption from company contributions, which amount to 80 billion euros a year, he specifies.
The UNSA denounces an “additional patch” that “returns the responsibility of balancing the Social Security budget – and that of the autonomy branch – exclusively to employees.”
“All work deserves wages,” the CFTC insists. In a tweet, the union recalls that “the French work 230 days a year and it is precisely through their work (and the gross remuneration derived from it) that they finance social security, unemployment insurance and our pensions” .
A tax on work that also outrages Christelle Thieffinne, national secretary of Social Protection CFE-CGC. “It is not acceptable to resolve the financing of autonomy through a tax on work,” he stated. The CFE-CGC questions the effectiveness of this measure: “Is this equivalent to making additional deductions to the company? “Will this generate more value?” he asks.
Other financing avenues considered
To finance autonomy, unions propose other ways. For Unsa, “other fairer solutions are possible: the mobilization of inheritance taxes, the establishment of a tax on the profits of lucrative nursing homes, greater taxation of financial income or even the end of certain social exemptions “.
Questioned by Les Echos, the president of Medef, Patrick Martin, believes that “we should not prohibit anything.” “In any case, we must think about financing social protection more through taxes, for example with a social VAT, instead of contributions that unfairly weigh on work.” The CFE-CGC is going in the same direction.
The solution? Taxation of imported products. “This will support the reindustrialization model in France and support French-style production,” says Christelle Thieffinne.
“I hope that the government does not make the mistake of approving this measure by force and does not ignore consultations with partners,” he concludes.
Source: BFM TV
