Three unions (CFDT, CFTC, FO), representing a majority of private sector employees, announced this Monday, October 9, that they would sign with employers the new agreement on supplementary pensions from Agirc-Arrco, which increases the value of supplementary pensions by 4.9% on November 1.
“For the CFDT, this draft agreement is a balanced project with notable progress for workers and retirees,” judges the union in a press release. For its part, the CFTC also welcomes “social progress” made possible by the “good management” of the social partners. And the FO confederal office “decided to sign unanimously”, negotiator Michel Beaugas told AFP. The CGT and the CFE-CGC have yet to give their decision, but a non-signature would not call into question the validity of the text.
A revaluation of 4.9%
On the employers’ side, Medef – which alone represents 60% of employers’ organizations – has already spoken out favorably. “At the initiative of drafting the text”, the organization wishes to sign, specified a source close to the matter. The other employers’ organizations, the CPME and the U2P, will give a response by Wednesday, but this will not change the outcome. This agreement on the four-year management of the fund, concluded during the night from Wednesday to Thursday by the three employers’ organizations and five union organizations co-managing Agirc-Arrco, will therefore apply.
Consequently, the pensions of the 13 million retirees receiving Agirc-Arrco benefits will be increased by 4.9% from November 1, in line with inflation. Between 2024 and 2026, the revaluation of pensions could be less: depending on the economic situation, the increase could be under-indexed by a maximum of 0.4 points below inflation. But the board of directors may choose to bring it back to the level of inflation.
The agreement also removes the “malus”, a temporary reduction of 10% which has applied since 2019 to the pensions of many retirees who left having met all the legal conditions. It will be eliminated from December 1 for new retirees, then from April for all retirees concerned.
In addition to these revaluations, the agreement seals the union of employers and unions on a major point: their refusal to organize a “financial pipeline” to the State, which demanded between 1 and 3 billion euros annually in here 2030 to participate in financing the increase in small pensions provided for by the pension reform, and in the “return to balance” of the overall system.