Will this be the final round of discussions? Trade union and employer organizations agreed on Wednesday evening on a timetable for negotiations on the rules of unemployment insurance and measures to promote the employment of seniors, with a series of meetings scheduled between now and November 15, according to sources. concordant.
Meeting by videoconference, the five representative trade union organizations (CFDT, CGT, FO, CFE-CGC, CFTC) and the three employers’ organizations (Medef, CPME, U2P) plan to meet on October 22 from 1 p.m.
Other sessions are then planned for October 29 as well as November 4, 8 and 14, we learned from union sources. Talks on unemployment insurance and employment of seniors will be conducted in parallel. An additional session may be added if necessary on November 15.
The government officially invited unions and employers last week to negotiate on the two subjects, in accordance with the wish expressed by Prime Minister Michel Barnier in his general policy declaration.
New extension decree
In a letter, the Minister of Labor Astrid Panosyan-Bouvet informed them that she had retained from her discussions with the social partners “a desire to resume the agreement concluded on November 10, 2023 on unemployment insurance, to supplement it in particular with the provisions relating to compensation for seniors.
This letter underlined that “without calling into question the financial trajectory determined in the framework document of August 1, 2023 (which provided the framework for the negotiations at the time)the social partners are invited to propose measures to generate 400 million euros in additional savings annually. The minister also indicated to the social partners that they “share the desire to move forward with a relaxation of the conditions of access to progressive retirement”, which are currently not widespread in France.
The November 2023 agreement was signed by the CFDT, FO, the CFTC and employers’ organizations after difficult negotiations, but was not validated by the government due to a lack of provisions on seniors.
As the unemployment insurance rules fall on October 31, an extension decree must be published by then, in order to avoid any legal vacuum and to allow the necessary time for an agreement to be approved. If the negotiation fails, the government will take control.