Public statistics will not give the measure of this for a year or two, but all observers agree that it is not just a matter of media magnifying glass: France is experiencing an upsurge in mobilizations for salary increases. “The stories of wage disputes are multiplying, it is undeniable”according to Karel Yon, sociologist and researcher at the CNRS.
This Wednesday, July 6, the movement was announced to be massive at the SNCF. That in the Ile-de-France airports of Orly and Roissy led to the cancellation of one flight out of five on Saturday July 2 in the morning. “There is really a proliferation of actions on these salary issues. It’s moving everywhere, everyone is affected, “ adds Céline Verzeletti, confederal secretary of the CGT, who still cites the truckers’ strike, the movements in the large private companies Total or Thales, and in the public sector. We could add to this a long list of mobilizations observed since the autumn, in the food industry, insurance, security, aeronautics, among perfumers Marionnaud or Sephora, the favorite brands of the French Leroy Merlin and Decathlon, and in a myriad SMEs or medium-sized companies, unknown to the general public.
“Because it affects everyone, in all positions, because it is not linked to any question of productivity or employee investment in their work, inflation has given new meaning to demand collective wage increase, shighlights Jérôme Pélisse, professor at Sciences Po and researcher at the Center for the Sociology of Organizations. A practice that had continued to decline in recent years in companies, in favor of individual increases, called “merit”.
“Mobilization pays off”
In the same way, the strike as a mode of collective action seems revived: testimonies abound from employees having experienced it for the first time in recent months. “This wave of strikes is a reminder of how the wage relationship is fundamentally conflictual and is based on a balance of power which is part of the normal life of the company”insists Mr. Pélisse.
With his colleague researcher at the CNRS Pierre Blavier, he studied the data (collected before confinement) from the latest survey “Professional relations and business negotiations”, from the direction of the animation of research, studies and statistics (Dares) from the Ministry of Labour. “ While at the national level, social conflicts are only rarely winning, we have shown that at the level of the establishments, mobilization pays, emphasizes Mr. Blavier. During wage negotiations, there is a strong statistical link between the occurrence of a collective mobilization and the fact that management amends its initial proposal. »
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