The strike against the pension reform is particularly followed this Thursday, January 19. Demonstrations, transport at a standstill, closed schools, blockages of refineries: France is experiencing “a Thursday of galley”, summed up the Minister of Transport, Clément Beaune. However, a few sectors seem to have benefited from a more attentive ear from the government. Conclusion: some professions are spared by the abolition of special regimes and will therefore not demonstrate.
At the heart of this reform, the end of special regimes. This is the case for civil servants, SNCF, EDF-GDF or even Engie. Until now, these sectors benefited from special rules: the legal retirement age can be advanced, the retirement contribution period is reduced, the method of calculating the retirement pension is different. With this new text, most of these derogatory regimes will be abolished to be brought together in a common regime. But some sectors have indeed managed to escape it. The Express explains.
Lawyers and liberal professions
The reform announced by Elisabeth Borne does not plan to affect the independent pension schemes of the liberal professions, including that of lawyers. These professions do not depend on Social Security and have special funds. Unlike the general scheme where employers pay the pension contributions of their employees, the members of the autonomous, independent schemes, contribute themselves for their pensions on their own income.
A relief for the French bar which, between 2019 and 2020, had strongly protested against the abolition of its autonomous regime to join the general regime. “Lawyers can only welcome the preservation of their system with satisfaction, as the risks of this reform would have meant the disappearance of many law firms and, consequently, the calling into question of access to law for all”, wrote the Bar Association in a press release on January 11. Lawyers have their own basic pension plan. There is also a supplementary scheme, also specific to their profession. These two pension schemes are managed by the Caisse nationale des barreaux français (CNBF). “The government considers that the lawyers’ fund is not in deficit. This reduces the interest of applying the reform to this profession since the objective of this reform is, for the State, to gain money”, confides to L’Express the historian Stéphane Sirot, specialist in trade unionism and social conflicts.
Fishermen, French comedy, Paris Opera
The scheme for fishermen-sailors, that of the Paris Opera or even that of the Comédie Française will also be maintained, in particular because of the arduous nature of the trades they cover. Already in November, the Minister of Labour, Olivier Dussopt, indicated that the pension reform project would not concern these professions. “The scheme for sailors will not be affected, for example, nor will those of dancers at the Paris Opera and the Comédie Française, for whom the retirement age is low because they concern very specific professions which use up the body”, he declared in an interview with the newspaper The echoes.
Heir to a long marine tradition dating back to the 17th century, fishing sailors have a very special regime. Maritime labor law allows them to retire at the end of 50 years, if they have 25 annuities. “Fishermen are able to initiate large-scale sectoral movements to defend their interests. They mobilized when there were recent fuel increases, just like at the start of Nicolas Sarkozy’s mandate in 2007, comments Stéphane Sirot It is not a question of multiplying the conflicts for the government.”
As for the Paris Opera and the Comédie Française, they are the only cultural institutions in France to benefit from a special regime due to their history and their artistic and technical constraints. At the Opera, this pension plan concerns employees on permanent contracts, ie approximately 1,700 people. Dancers cannot retire after 42 and the legal minimum age required to access these rights is 40. At the Comédie Française, around 300 employees are affected. Administrative staff and boarders born from 1962 can claim their rights at age 62. However, the hardship of the professions of the stage cage, security or construction of the sets, allows the generations born after 1959 to leave from the age of 57. “When the pension reform was announced, these professionals strongly protested in 2019-2020, it is an influential sector with an important network”, points out the specialist in trade unionism. For the first time in its history, the Paris Opera was in the street. “It’s good war not to re-engage in a standoff on this front, believes Stéphane Sirot. Especially since these trades represent a marginal number.”
Air traffic controllers and customs
The air traffic controllers won the negotiations with the government. The latter have retained the benefits of their special diet given the cognitive and concentration requirements that their profession requires. Thus, the age limit for retirement will be maintained at 59 years and the number of years of effective service necessary to assert specific rights remains fixed at 17 years. At 32 hours a week, these civil servant engineers ensure the take-offs and landings of the aircraft. They are also in charge of air traffic control to ensure that no accident occurs in the air or on the tarmac. “There are not many air traffic controllers in France [environ 4000 NDLR]without them, the air sector can be seriously disrupted and the government is aware of this,” admits historian Stéphane Sirot.
Finally, the customs officers also won their case on some of their claims. On January 6, the Minister in charge of the Budget and Minister responsible for customs officers, Gabriel Attal, brought together the trade unions, the daily tells us. The echoes. Thus, active duty professionals will continue to benefit from the “fifth” rule. In other words, five years of contributions make it possible to obtain an additional year, with a maximum of 20 quarters. In addition, the age ceilings at 60 and 62 will be removed. Agents who wish to do so will be able to extend their careers, whereas they were deterred from doing so until now.