“We will be invited to consultations, but the law is already written“, declared Wednesday, September 7 on franceinfo François Hommeril, president of the CFE-CGC executives union, while the extension of the current unemployment insurance scheme will be discussed in the Council of Ministers on Wednesday. On unemployment insurance, the project of law extends the current rules until the end of 2023. It also paves the way for a new reform which evolves according to the economic situation. The text, minimalist, is presented as a “first stage” to alleviate the recruitment difficulties of companies.
franceinfo: Can we still talk about negotiations regarding the reform when the government seems to have already made its decisions?
Francois Hommeril: Not at all. The method, we know it, once again we will be invited to consultations. The government will listen to us, we will have the opportunity to repeat to it what we think on the subject, we will also say it in front of the press, but the law is already written since the government has already communicated on the subject. Employers, the Medef in particular, have already announced that they do not wish to negotiate between social partners because they know, as they say, that we are not going to come to an agreement on the question of countercyclical compensation. .
Under these conditions, is it really useful to talk to the government?
We’re a little tired of that. The very principle of a negotiation is that everyone who participates in the negotiation takes his risk. We come with opinions, everyone comes with their truth, we share and we try to reach a consensus. Negotiation is a permanent risk of shifting from one’s starting point of view. I’m willing to take that risk. The positions, it is necessary in principle to agree to change them according to the arguments of the others. However, here, the government once again poses a very contested principle of saying that people are more or less motivated to return to work depending on the level of compensation they have. This principle is wrong.
“A whole bunch of studies have shown that there is no link between the compensation you receive and the motivation to find a job.”
François Hommeril, president of the CFE-CGCon franceinfo
But there is a phenomenon which is known, on which I am ready to discuss. It is the phenomenon of lack of interest, mistrust that there is for a whole generation to enter the company. The younger generation is sending us a message. They tell us “we saw our parents get involved and we see that the company does not give them anything back, social plans, difficulties in working”. They say “we’re 20, 25, 30, we’re graduates, we’re concerned about the environment, working conditions and we want to know if the company we’re going to has a project related to my individual project. It’s new and it’s putting pressure on companies’ job offers and that’s great. I am available to discuss it, I think it is one of the things that will help society evolve. And the response from the government and the employers is to say “these people are choosy, so we’re going to hit them a little on the head to force them to enter the companies where today they have a few reservations”. This is a very bad answer to a real question.
You call for an overhaul of the way businesses operate. Are you going to participate in the National Refoundation Council?
No, we decided not to participate. We cannot say, like the President of the Republic, I have changed, I want to adopt a new method and at the same time say that we are going to legislate by decree for unemployment insurance. To say that we are going to consult, but that we have already made our decision and to make the allocations degressive according to the economic situation. We can no longer accept such a difference between speeches, commitments and actions.