They failed to find common ground, although many of them refused to say so explicitly. During the night of Tuesday April 9 to Wednesday April 10, unions and employers ended their negotiations “for a new pact for life at work”.
The result of discussions initiated three and a half months ago, the final version of the draft agreement, which aims to increase the proportion of seniors working, was criticized by all employee organizations. The latter must now consult their authorities before adopting an official position, but everything suggests, barring a very improbable twist of events, that they will reject the text that the employer movements have submitted to them.
Such an outcome leaves the government free to take measures which draw on the consequences of the 2023 pension reform, with the postponement of the legal age from 62 to 64 years. For social democracy, this is a serious setback, which can only reinforce Emmanuel Macron’s poor opinion of intermediate bodies, the Head of State judging them incapable of developing ambitious measures. on an interprofessional scale.
Initially, the end of the talks was scheduled for March 26, but the protagonists had postponed it to Monday 8 then to Tuesday April 9, in the hope that this extension would allow them to reach a compromise. In reality, the additional discussion sessions turned into a war of nerves, interspersed with endless suspensions of debates. Over the hours, the representatives of business leaders, who held the pen, changed the draft agreement, but in a way that was far too parsimonious, in the eyes of the unions.
It was the CFTC, although renowned for its moderation, which had the sharpest words after the meeting between social partners, organized at the national headquarters of Medef, in Paris. “It’s a shame to come to a conclusion of failure”launched Eric Courpotin, confederal secretary of the Christian center, to journalists, Wednesday around 2 a.m. “The feelings of all organizations [de salariés]it is not possible to sign »he added, wondering, in a provocative tone, if the desire of the opposing camp was not to obtain “labor, for cheap”. His CFE-CGC counterpart, Jean-François Foucard, was also rather direct. “The employers said: “We are going to change the paradigm.” We are still waiting”he quipped, before concluding: “It’s a missed moment. »
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