FIn the face of inflation, employees are asking for significant wage increases. At Renault, Michelin, or Stellantis (ex-PSA), annual salary negotiations have not always been successful. This is unprecedented because usually, management and unions rather find common ground. And then also because the proposals put on the table were rather generous. For example, at Stellantis, management proposed a raise envelope that averaged 3.2%. Insufficient ! replied the representatives of the employees.
In several large French groups, the unions complain that the management concentrates the increases on the variable parts, the bonuses, instead of real permanent wage increases. Many also believe that the proposals are far from the mark, given the very good results that these CAC 40 groups achieved last year.
Employees are worried about soaring prices and the war in Ukraine increases these fears. The price of fuels will still fly away, the same for heating… on the shelves, the labels of food products will also progress, by 3% at least this year. In his speech on Wednesday March 2, Emmanuel Macron also warned: the rise in raw materials will affect the purchasing power of the French. He promised a resilience plan to help them, but yes, in this context, many are turning or will turn to their employers.
There is already social movements even if, necessarily, they are not making the headlines at the moment. At BioMérieux, in health, employees have been on strike for several days. There were tensions at Thales, Safran or Decathlon. A new strike is also planned for March 25 at the RATP in Paris, after that of February 18. There is also a national call from most public service unions for a day of action on March 17. Always with the same watchword: wages!