This is the surprise of this new Lecornu government. Jean-Pierre Farandou was appointed Minister of Labor and Solidarity. For him, at stake is, in particular, the suspension of the 2023 pension reform requested by the left. This 68-year-old man, who has spent his entire career at the SNCF, of which he remains general director while awaiting the arrival of Jean Castex to succeed him, has always put social dialogue among his priorities.
At the SNCF, this mining engineer, son of a professor, had to face a succession of crises and challenges, in particular around the remuneration of agents, which gave rise to major strikes, the Paris Olympic Games or even the gradual cessation of careers within the framework of the pension reform in the spring of 2024.
To confront these various rebellions, Jean-Pierre Farandou progressively created a “platform for social progress”, based on “coherence and social unity” in the ranks of the SNCF. In other words, this “platform for social progress” is a kind of permanent and collective negotiation (therefore not categorical a priori) that should make it possible to avoid raising the threat of a strike for each demand.
Social progress platform
The agreement on the end of the race was perceived by the boss as “a decisive first step in the implementation of our platform for social progress.” However, the approach is not unanimous. “For the moment, it is a good sign,” commented this Monday the number one of the CFDT, Marylise Léon. “We maintained a very good dialogue with him when he was at the SNCF, he negotiated, in particular with the CFDT, an agreement on the difficulties a few months ago,” he added. “I hope he maintains his convictions and this way of dialogue with union organizations,” he continues.
In July 2024, Unsa-Ferroviaire welcomed a professional with “remarkable knowledge of systems, budgetary and social issues, infrastructure and productive dysfunctions.”
On the opposite side of the union spectrum, Thierry Nier, of the CGT-Cheminots, indicated: “We can recognize their ability to listen,” although he regretted that “that is not all.”
Sud-Rail has said several times that it “respects” the man who speaks the railway language and even defended him when Bruno Lemaire, former economy minister, wanted his head after the conclusion of the pension agreement that, according to the government, allows it to avoid its own reform. “It is not in Sud-Rail’s DNA to defend employers. On the other hand, what is happening is completely unfair,” declared Fabien Villedieu, Sud-Rail union representative, on BFMTV.
Between the listening capacity and the dialogue of the deaf
If he refuses to comment on his arrival at the Ministry of Labor, the organization does not have strong enough words to denounce the strategy followed by the general director (openness to competition, subsidiaries, remuneration, network financing, working conditions, etc.), but also the proposal for social dialogue which, in short, would seem like a dialogue of the deaf.
However, Erik Meyer, federal secretary of Sud-Rail, welcomed the agreement on pensions that makes it possible to “partially offset the harmful effects of the pension reform.” But the union at the same time criticizes the creation of “work groups”, which are too slow and do not allow conflicts to be avoided, and accuses management of pitting employees against each other during strike movements.
Source: BFM TV
