The general secretary of the CGT Sophie Binet will close, this Wednesday afternoon, the debates organized between the Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne and the unions. On Tuesday, FO and the CFDT opened the ball, followed this Wednesday by the CFE-CGC, the CFTC and therefore the CGT. But what exactly are the issues on the negotiating table for 24 hours at Matignon?
- The withdrawal of the pension reform
The burning issue of pension reform, the main measure of which is lowering the retirement age to 64, is, unsurprisingly, at the top of the topics discussed within Matignon’s walls. Questioned on the France Inter antennaSophie Binet has thus reaffirmed her firm opposition to this law promulgated in mid-April, after months of social conflict.
The first representative to go to Matignon on Tuesday, the Secretary General of Force Ouvrière (FO) Frédéric Souillot was also intransigent on this issue, calling for the reform’s complete repeal. “We have not accepted a schedule” for negotiations on issues other than pensions.
Laurent Berger, less virulent, also expressed his “resentment” to the Prime Minister after months of social conflict tinged with a “form of contempt” and his “demand” in the upcoming consultations.
Between the lines, there is also the question of voting on the bill to repeal the emblematic measure of the reform of the lowering of the legal age. A text, supported by the unions, that the executive tries to block in the assembly. “It would be unacceptable (that) it not be examined” as planned on June 8 in the Assembly, warned Laurent Berger, who is calling with the inter-union for a 14th day of mobilization on June 6.
- An increase in wages
But the thorny issue of pensions is far from being the only claim subject to be invited to the discussions. The inter-union, meeting after weeks of mobilization, also agrees on the need to revalue wages while the inflation rate reached almost 6% in April according to INSEE.
In their meetings with Elisabeth Borne, the CFDT and FO also called for “conditionality” on this issue of public aid to companies. In detail, Frédéric Souillot called for salaries to be indexed to inflation, an “index point thaw” of civil servants “at the height of inflation” and a “boost to the minimum wage.”
For his part, Laurent Berger, who supports the idea of negotiations on wages, advocated the suspension of contribution exemptions for branches that have minimum wages below the minimum wage.
Like FO, the CGT calls for “an indexing of wages to prices, like the one that existed in France until 1983.” Asked by France Inter, the organization’s general secretary Sophie Binet also called for an “improvement of working conditions by reinforcing the power of staff representatives with the reestablishment of the CHSCT”.
- The 4 day week
But Sophie Binet also wants to address the issue of working time. The head of the CGT thus intends to negotiate the 4-day week with the reduction of work to 32 hours.
- An opposition to the reform of the RSA
Finally, the unions are already trying to voice their disagreement with the so-called “France Travail” law, which should be approved by the Council of Ministers at the beginning of June. Beyond the creation of “France Travail” that will replace the current Pôle emploi, this reform should integrate a controversial measure aimed at toughening the conditions for the granting of Solidarity Active Income (RSA).
When visiting Réunion this weekend, Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne confirmed that the text will provide for “sanctions” for RSA beneficiaries who do not comply with the “accompaniment” path to return to employment. The beneficiaries will therefore have to justify 15 to 20 hours of activity.
“Saying that they are going to work 15 or 20 hours is a lie (…) I do not want to say that it is free work, all that is going to be offered to them is to allow their lasting professional integration”, qualified the Renaissance deputy, Marc Ferracci, on the set of BFM Business on Tuesday.
Source: BFM TV
