Their alliance is rare: at the end of a negotiation session on the new unemployment insurance rules, five unions and three employers’ organizations denounced, Thursday evening, September 28, in a joint declaration, an “unacceptable drain ” by the government of the revenues of Unédic, the joint body which manages unemployment insurance.
“Both in substance and in method, this plan to drain unemployment insurance revenues, even though negotiations are underway, is unacceptable,” they insisted in this joint declaration.
The Borne government has announced that it wants to take around 2 billion euros from its surpluses in 2023 by decree, then 2 billion again in 2024 through the Social Security financing bill. The drain could reach an amount of between 3.5 and 4 billion euros in 2026, according to the framework letter sent to the social partners.
Finance France Travail
The aim of this levy is to finance public employment and training policies as well as France Travail. The new organization will indeed need additional resources to support the nearly 2 million RSA beneficiaries for whom it will be responsible, in addition to the unemployed. But drawing on the revenues of Unédic, which is heavily in debt, will force the latter to borrow in the short term on the markets to honor its repayment deadlines, which will cost it 800 million euros over four years. Unions and employers thus consider that the negotiations “are based on an objectively questionable financial trajectory which risks ultimately weakening the economic balance of the regime”.
Only the CGT did not join this joint declaration. If she shares the substance of it, she has not endorsed it, because she contests the savings requested by the employer party in the sectoral negotiation on compensation for intermittent workers in the entertainment industry – negotiation which will open in parallel with the discussions on the the future of Unédic.
Freeing yourself from government regulations
Such a significant drain “obstructs the ability to discuss adjustments to the unemployment insurance agreement”, judged the employers’ and trade union organizations on Thursday. Faced with this situation, they affirmed that during the next negotiations they would free themselves from the government’s framework letter, which could in return refuse to sign the agreement reached between social partners. “Employers and unions will try to agree on a trajectory a little different from that given by the government, in order to imagine solutions, improvements to the system, modifications, to ultimately lead to an agreement,” CFDT negotiator Olivier Guivarch declared in mid-September during a press conference.
The framework set by the government prohibits them from questioning the method of calculating compensation for job seekers, which has been tightened since 2019. It is also impossible to return to the modulation of compensation rules depending on the economic situation. economic: since February 1, 2023, the compensation period has been reduced by 25% and will only be extended in the event of significant economic deterioration.
If they want to free themselves from it, the eight social partners will have to find compromises on the content of the new unemployment insurance agreement, such as the minimum contribution period giving entitlement to benefits which the CFDT would like to reduce to four months and the CGT, for two, but also rechargeable rights, the floor allowance or seasonal workers.
The delicate issue of seniors, on which negotiators are awaiting government measures following the increase in the retirement age, should also be addressed at the next meeting, on October 4. By November 15, all negotiations must be completed.