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France

Background information on industrial relations in France

• 22 Dec 2008
  France: Unions highlight need for decent work on World Day

  In the context of the World day for decent work in October 2008, the French trade unions affiliated to the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) held a rally in order to raise public awareness about this issue in the particularly difficult circumstances resulting from the global economic situation. About 110,000 people participated in 90 demonstrations throughout France. The demonstrators called for more jobs, decent pay and working conditions, and better public services.

• 19 Dec 2008
  France: France: Temporary agency work and collective bargaining in the EU

  The temporary agency work situation in France is simultaneously characterised by a highly structured legal framework and a large number of contracts being signed and dialogue taking place. This makes for relatively strong protection for workers and legitimises the work of temporary work agencies.The regulatory framework has been largely transformed since 2005 and is still undergoing changes: for user enterprises, the advent of new permitted reasons for using agency workers, for temporary work agencies the authorisation of new lines of business, namely recruitment (as a secondary activity nevertheless) and working as umbrella companies.France is one of the world’s leading TAW markets. Despite recent developments, TAW is still mainly of an industrial nature, requires low skill levels and targets a young male workforce.

• 11 Dec 2008
  France: Industrial relations in the public sector — France

  This report presents an overview of industrial relations in the central government and public sector in France.

• 08 Dec 2008
  France: Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Railways sector – France

  The aim of this representativeness study is to identify the respective national and supranational actors (i.e. trade unions and employer organisations) in the field of industrial relations in the railways sector in France. In order to determine their relative importance in the sector’s industrial relations, this study will, in particular, focus on their representational quality as well as on their role in collective bargaining. The study is divided into two parts: the first part deals with railway transport operations, based on research carried out in 2006; the second part focuses on rail infrastructure based on research completed in 2007.

• 04 Nov 2008
  France: Regularisation of undocumented immigrant workers

  During 2008, undocumented immigrant workers have been engaging in lobbying, demonstrations and strikes to support their efforts to have their situation in France regularised. The movement seems to be having some success, and by the end of August, almost two thirds of applicants in the Paris region had achieved regularisation. However, cases of discrimination are not uncommon, and fears arise that many undocumented workers are not being represented.

• 20 Oct 2008
  France: New rules for union representativeness and working time

  In July, the law on ‘renewing social democracy and working time reform’ was adopted and will come into force at the end of summer 2008. This text changes the rules of collective bargaining regarding two key aspects, namely validating agreements and trade union representativeness. But above all it has sparked off fierce controversy as it enables companies to renegotiate agreements and thereby challenge the 35-hour week – 10 years after it was introduced.

• 14 Oct 2008
  France: Multi-industry agreement reached on stress at work

  The French social partners concluded a national multi-industry agreement on stress at work in early July 2008. It transposes the 2004 European framework agreement on work-related stress and adds to it in many areas. Against the background of several suicides of workers in the car industry, the government also initiated tripartite talks on stress at work. According to estimates, stress at work leads to 400,000 illnesses and almost 3.5 million days of sick leave a year.

• 07 Oct 2008
  France: Tripartite conference issues proposals for occupational risk prevention

  Since April 2008, the French government has organised a series of tripartite conferences on working conditions, following on from several studies. The meetings should lead to reforms that improve working conditions and the occupational health system. Several reports highlight the shortcomings of the latter. Already, some ideas and proposals have emerged from the discussions, such as the creation of a steering committee on working conditions.

• 07 Oct 2008
  France: GDF Suez merger achieved amidst controversy

  In July 2008, the merger between GDF and Suez was complete, leading to the creation of the European energy, water and environment giant GDF Suez. The French state remains the biggest single shareholder in the new corporation. The merger generated considerable controversy, as the European Commission and trade unions were strongly opposed to the plan. GDF Suez management undertook not to make any employees redundant and even talked of creating jobs.

• 22 Sep 2008
  France: Unions protest at privatisation of port handling operations

  In June 2008, the French government adopted a law privatising port handling activities at seven major French seaports. Since the legislation was proposed in April, crane operators – with support from dockers – had held a series of strikes in protest at the effects of the privatisation on their jobs. Negotiations are due to start by 31 October on a framework agreement defining the terms for transferring the ports’ handling activities and workers to private operators.

• 05 Sep 2008
  France: France: Representativeness of the European social partner organisations – Sea and coastal water transport

  In the sector under review, the union density is high for France; all five French trade union confederations are present in the sector to varying degrees. There is quite a lot of collective bargaining both at company and sector levels. Collective agreements cover all employees of the sector by grade: sailors, officers and sedentary staff. The unions are involved in three types of bargaining: at the international level through agreements concluded by the ITF with the major shipowners; national sector-level agreements concerning ships that are on the French maritime register; company agreements, notably in big companies. The sector’s employer associations and unions are associated with a tripartite body, namely the National Transport Council.

• 20 Aug 2008
  France: Government forges ahead with pensions reform plans

  Following discussions with the social partners, in late April 2008 the French government announced reforms of the state pensions system, including an increase in the number of years of contributions required for a full pension, from 40 to 41 years. This move is strongly opposed by the trade unions. In June, the government proposed a series of measures promoting the employment of older people, to accompany the changes to the pension scheme.

• 16 Jul 2008
  France: Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Post and courier services sector – France

  The aim of this representativeness study is to identify the respective national and supranational actors (i.e. trade unions and employer organisations) in the field of industrial relations in the post and courier services sector in France. In order to determine their relative importance in the sector’s industrial relations, this study will, in particular, focus on their representational quality as well as on their role in collective bargaining.

• 10 Jul 2008
  France: Social partners agree new representativeness and collective bargaining rules

  In April 2008, four of the current eight representative social partner organisations adopted a so-called ‘common position’ on social dialogue. The document makes provision for basing representativeness on the votes received by trade unions during workplace elections. However, the signatories are not satisfied with the way in which the document has been transcribed into a draft bill, and other social partners had already criticised the agreed common position.

• 09 Jul 2008
  France: Representativeness of the European social partner organisations: Manufacture of sugar – France

  The aim of this representativeness study is to identify the respective national and supranational actors (i.e. trade unions and employer organisations) in the field of industrial relations in the sugar manufacturing sector in France. In order to determine their relative importance in the sector’s industrial relations, this study will, in particular, focus on their representational quality as well as on their role in collective bargaining.

• 03 Jul 2008
  France: New ‘user-friendly’ Labour Code comes into force

  On 1 May 2008, a new version of the Labour Code came into force in France. The Labour Code has been reworked ‘on the basis of established law’, with the aim of making it clearer and more practical in its application. However, according to opponents of the new code, the changes introduced create new relationships between the different articles of the code, which could lead to changes in jurisprudence.

• 26 Jun 2008
  France: Decree regulating students’ work placements strongly criticised

  After the publication in January 2008 of a decree on the employment of students on work placements, student organisations organised several demonstrations calling for equal employment conditions for students on work placements across all economic sectors. Trade unions and student organisations are disappointed about the minimum level of the monthly gratuity that has been set. Students also criticise the fact that the decree does not apply to the public services.

• 11 Jun 2008
  France: Economic and Social Council proposes changes in occupational health service

  On 27 February 2008, the Economic and Social Council adopted, by a large majority, an opinion on the future of the occupational health service. The document proposes measures for changing the organisation of health at work and outlines a reform timetable for the period 2008–2009. During the two-day discussion on the opinion, trade unions and employer organisations expressed certain reservations regarding the proposed reform.

• 03 Jun 2008
  France: Emergency service doctors strike over excessive working hours

  A decline in employment, combined with measures regarding the reduction of working time which have not been compensated by sufficient increases in staffing, has since 2000 led to industrial tension in public hospitals regarding working time. Consequently, the number of hours and days worked, but not paid or taken as time-off, has accumulated. On 7 February 2008, the Ministry of Health and five trade unions signed a draft agreement providing for a solution to the problem.

• 03 Jun 2008
  France: Sharp rise in inflation leads to automatic rise in minimum wage

  As the annual increase in the consumer price index was higher than 2% in April 2008 – and in line with the automatic mechanism for increasing the national minimum wage – the latter increased even before the annual examination by the social partners due to take place in July 2008. This is the first time that this has happened in 10 years. As a result, this development has led to discussions on purchasing power and the way in which the mechanism for increasing the minimum wage functions.

• 03 Jun 2008
  France: Creation of new single operator in public employment service

  As part of the recently adopted law on the reform of the organisation of the public employment service, both current entities – the National Employment Agency and the National Union for Employment in Industry and Commerce and its regional branches – are due to merge by 2009. The new single operator will have more wide-ranging tasks than the current bodies. The planned merger has provoked mixed reactions among the social partners.

• 29 May 2008
  France: Impact of collective bargaining law assessed

  In January 2008, three years after the implementation of the law of May 2004 which sought to make collective bargaining more dynamic, the Ministry of Labour, Social Relations and Solidarity compiled a report assessing the legislation’s impact. While the law has resulted in several changes to the legal principles used for validating collective agreements, the report concludes that little has changed in practice – a finding which the relevant employer organisations and trade unions agree with.

• 29 May 2008
  France: Findings show that few companies comply with gender equality rules

  In March 2008, the Higher Council for equality in employment in France examined the proposals of a working group set up to improve company reporting on the comparative employment and training conditions of male and female staff. Currently, less than a third of companies prepare such a report, and few company agreements on gender equality exist. The proposals form part of the government’s plan of action for promoting equality in employment.

• 08 May 2008
  France: Mass strike action in retail sector leads to sectoral pay agreement

  In February 2008, in the context of the sectoral bargaining round, workers in the large-scale retail sector took strike action in response to a call issued by all three majority trade unions in the sector. The main issue was the workers’ reduced purchasing power due to low salaries in the sector along with increasing consumer prices. A key element of the collective bargaining round concerned the payment for breaks and under the new agreement breaks will now be paid at the rate of 5% of the pay for hours actually worked, in addition to wages.

• 22 Apr 2008
  France: Workplace elections in public hospitals

  In October 2007, almost 800,000 hospital staff with civil service status were invited to elect their representatives for various consultative bodies at département and local levels. These elections took place at a time when hospital staff had taken action on several occasions against problems of understaffing and overtime payment. Compared with the 2003 elections, the distribution of votes remained the same, but turn-out of voters dropped to a worrying degree.

• 21 Apr 2008
  France: Social partners criticise new law on purchasing power

  After the law on ‘work, jobs and purchasing power’ adopted in August 2007, the French parliament adopted another law ‘promoting purchasing power’ on 31 January 2008. The latest measures concern employees and tenants. Elements with regard to the former include extra pay instead of days off work and earlier access to employee savings schemes. Both employers and trade unions are critical of the new law.

• 21 Apr 2008
  France: Unions slam proposals for economic growth in Attali’s report

  On 24 January 2008, five months after the President of the Republic initiated the creation of a commission to seek ways of aiming to achieve full employment again, the latter submitted its report with more than 300 proposals. The majority of the recommendations should be taken on board by the government. However, following demonstrations and heated discussions in relation to the report, some of the proposals have already been abandoned.

• 07 Apr 2008
  France: Proposed introduction of VAT on social security deferred

  In recent months, there has been controversy in France over the possible introduction of a so-called ‘social value added tax’ (VAT). Under such a scheme, VAT will be used to finance social protection, which is at present largely financed by contributions paid by employers and employees. After much discussion and reports on the issue, the introduction of a ‘social VAT’ now seems to have been abandoned.

• 24 Mar 2008
  France: ILO rejects two-year ‘consolidation period’ after recruitment

  On 14 November 2007, the International Labour Organization (ILO) judged that the probationary period for employees hired under a new recruitment contract cannot be considered reasonable. This decision, resulting from a trade union referral, puts an end to this type of employment contract. The French government has announced that it will bring its legislation into line with the requirements of the relevant ILO convention.

• 17 Mar 2008
  France: Social partners sign agreement on labour market reform

  After four months of collective bargaining, on 11 January 2008, employer organisations and four trade union confederations reached an agreement on ‘modernising the labour market’. The agreement lays the basis for a French version of ‘flexicurity’; it establishes more flexible conditions regarding recruitment of workers and termination of employment, on the one hand, while maintaining some employee rights if the employment contract is terminated, on the other.

• 04 Mar 2008
  France: Protracted negotiations on issue of arduous work

  After more than a year’s break, intersectoral bargaining on the issue of arduous work started again in June 2007. Negotiations remain difficult and no agreement has yet been reached on the practical details of introducing early retirement as compensation for the arduous nature of certain working conditions. The employers want evidence of an impact on the worker’s health, while trade unions consider that any exposed worker should be entitled to early retirement.

• 04 Feb 2008
  France: Government launches tripartite conferences and consultations on social reforms

  In October and November 2007, the French government organised two tripartite conferences on social policy issues to prepare for reforms in the areas of working conditions and gender equality. At the same time, a ‘series of discussions’ began between the government and the social partners on the themes of employment and purchasing power. The government warned that if no agreements could be reached between the social partners, it would draw up its own reform proposals.

• 04 Feb 2008
  France: Sale of newspaper raises concern over editorial independence

  In November 2007, the sale of the daily business newspaper, Les Échos, to the French luxury goods group, Louis Vuitton Moët-Hennessy, led to a strike of the newspaper’s journalists on 5 and 6 November 2007. They thus demonstrated their concern about both the consequences of the sale for jobs and its impact on editorial independence, including a possible conflict of interest with the buyer’s business interests.

• 01 Feb 2008
  France: Representativeness of the social partners: Gas sector –France

  The aim of this representativeness study is to identify the respective national and supranational actors (i.e. trade unions and employer organisations) in the field of industrial relations in the gas sector in France. In order to determine their relative importance in the sector’s industrial relations, this study will, in particular, focus on their representational quality as well as on their role in collective bargaining.

• 14 Jan 2008
  France: Craftswork employers seek to develop local economy

  At the end of October 2007, the Craftwork Employers’ Association held its congress in Paris, addressing the theme that ‘developing the local economy is a societal choice’. As well as discussing this issue, the delegates highlighted the specific nature of their professions, while at the same time expressing their desire to participate more in developing social dialogue.

• 14 Jan 2008
  France: Senate report pushes for reform of vocational training system

  A Senate report, published in July 2007, proposes a reform of the vocational training system. The key measure proposed is the creation of a ‘training savings account’, offering employees the right to training during their working life. Employer organisations and trade unions oppose the idea of abolishing company contributions to the training plan, as well as the merger of the National Employment Agency and the Union for Employment in Industry and Commerce.

• 14 Jan 2008
  France: Economic and Social Council advocates more job security for workers

  In June 2007, the French Economic and Social Council adopted a recommendation for ensuring a more stable career path for workers. The compromise text was published on the eve of negotiations between the social partners on modernising the labour market. The Council emphasises the importance of providing good quality work, training and a guaranteed income. It highlights the need for greater access to employment, better management of career transitions and individual responsibility.

• 14 Jan 2008
  France: Criticism over new tax cuts to boost economic growth

  In August 2007, the French parliament adopted a law promoting work, jobs and purchasing power. It introduced a set of measures aiming to stimulate economic growth, by creating a ‘confidence shock’. The package contains a range of tax cuts, including in relation to overtime work, and income distribution measures. However, the effects that can be expected from the reforms are still uncertain, and several criticisms have been raised.

• 14 Jan 2008
  France: Workplace suicides highlight issue of rising stress levels at work

  Within a few months, several workers in France have taken their own lives – almost all of them in the workplace. This may indicate deteriorating working conditions, in particular increasing stress levels among and growing pressure on workers. Trade unions claim that excessive isolation of workers due to high workloads and fierce competition leads to a malaise in companies and thus call for a reflection on choices of work organisation.