Representativeness of the social partners: Telecommunications sector – France
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Industrial relations in the telecommunications sector in France are marked by the situation that existed before the process of liberalisation and privatisation. They are dominated by one major company (>90% employment), France Telecom, and one particular category of employees, namely those with civil service status. The unions are highly fragmented and heterogeneous. In spite of these unfavourable conditions, there is much collective bargaining, which is also making progress at the level of this recently developed sector.
GENERAL AIM AND CONCEPTUAL REMARKS
The aim of this EIRO representativeness study is to identify the respective national and supranational actors (i.e. the trade unions and employer associations) in the field of industrial relations in the telecommunications sector. In order to determine their relative importance in the sector's industrial relations, this study will, in particular, focus on their representational domain as well as their role in collective bargaining.
Since this study aims to investigate the representativeness of the social partners, the collection of quantitative data is essential. Needless to say, it is often difficult to find quantitative data on such issues as associational density or collective bargaining coverage. In case of certain questions, it may be impossible to collect precise data. In such cases, we would like you to give rough estimates rather than leave the question blank. If you think that the reliability of an estimate is doubtful, please make a note.
In principle, data on the rates of density and coverage may stem from three sources:
- representative survey studies;
- administrative data (i.e. membership data provided by the respective association which are then used for calculating the rate on the basis of available figures on the potential membership of the association);
- personal estimates of the rates by representatives of the respective association.
When documenting the rates of density and coverage, please report the type of source underlying your data. For simplicity, please use the following codes: S = survey study; A = administrative data; E = personal estimates from interviews with the association’s representatives.
The sectors are defined in terms of NACE classification. To assure cross-national comparability, it is important that each national centre proceeds from this definition. In exceptional cases, national classifications may deviate from NACE, such that the figures for question 1 must follow the national classification. In this case, please explain the national classification. However, responses to any other question must follow the NACE classification! This implies that the sectoral data on density and coverage may be drawn from personal estimates (E), if available survey studies and administrative data are not congruent with the NACE classification.
The domain of the unions and employer associations as well as the purview of collective agreements are likely to be not congruent with the NACE classification. Hence, we include all unions, employer associations and collective agreements which are “sector-related”. Being sector-related applies to the following four patterns:
- Congruence: the domain/purview is identical with the NACE classification
- (2) Sectionalism:the domain/purview covers only a certain part of the sector as demarcated by NACE classification, while no group outside the sector covered
- (3) Overlap: the domain/purview covers the entire sector plus (parts of) one or more other sectors
- (4) Sectional overlap: the domain/purview covers part of the sector plus (parts of) one or more other sector
Telecommunications is defined in terms of NACE classification as follows: 64.20 (i.e. telecommunications without cable TV and radio activities)
1. Sectoral properties
Please provide the following data:
| 1.1. | 1993 | 2004** |
| Number of companies (source AGP)° | No data, because the sector has only existed since 1999 | 426 (2005) |
| Aggregate employment* (source: INSEE Résultats) | Idem. | 147,627 (2003) |
| Male employment* | Not available | |
| Female employment* | Not available | |
| Aggregate employees (E) | 157,000 incl. approx 100,000 employees with civil servant status in the France Telecom group | |
| Male employees France Telecom SA | 67,860 | |
| Female employees France Telecom SA | 39,987 (37%) | |
| Male employees apart from France Telecom (source: INSEE/UNEDIC)° | 29,013 | |
| Female employees apart from France Telecom | 20,162 (41%) | |
| Aggregate sectoral employment as a % of total employment in the economy (source: INSEE Enquête emploi) | 0.6 % (2003) | |
| Aggregate sectoral employees as a % of the total number of employees in the economy (source: INSEE) | 0.7 % |
* employees plus self-employed persons and agency workers
** or most recent data
° Equal association of management of the employment in the Telecom Sector ( Association de gestion paritaire, AGP)
National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies ( Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques, INSEE)
National Union for Employment in Industry and Commerce ( Union nationale interprofessionnelle pour l’emploi dans l’industrie et le commerce, UNEDIC)
NB : The statistics include TV and radio, but only the transmission, not the production of radio and TV programmes.
Aggregate employees is an estimation based on the sum of female and male employees in France Telecom and the rest of the sector (heterogeneity of sources).
2. The sector’s unions and employer associations
This section has to include the following unions and employer associations:
(i) unions which are party to sector-related collective bargaining (In line with the above conceptual remarks, we understand sector-related collective bargaining as any kind of collective bargaining within the sector, i.e. single-employer bargaining as well as multi-employer bargaining. For the definition of single- and multi-employer bargaining, see 4.3)
(ii) unions which are a member of the sector-related European Union Federation (i.e. UNI Europa Telecom)
(iii) employer associations which are a party to sector-related collective bargaining
(iv) employer associations which are a member of the sector-related European Employer Federation (i.e. ETNO – European Telecommunications Network Operators' Association)
For the notion of “sector-related”, see the conceptual remarks.
2a Data on the unions
2a.1 Type of membership (voluntary vs. compulsory)
Membership is voluntary for all the unions in the sector
2a.2 Formal demarcation of membership domain (e.g. blue-collar workers, private-sector workers, telecommunication sector employees, etc.)
Not available.
2a.3 Number of members
Most of the unions do not wish to communicate the size of their membership.
The General Confederation of Labour (Confédération générale du travail, CGT)-affiliated Post and Telecommunications Workers Federation, (Fédération du secteur postal et des télécommunications, CGT-PTT) and the General Confederation of Labour – Force ouvrière (Confédération générale du travail – Force ouvrière, CGT-FO)-affiliated Communication Workers Federation (Fédération Communication, FO-COM) each say that they have approximately 15,000 members in the sector.
2a.4 Female union members as a percentage of total union membership
CGT-PTT: 33% female union members.
FO-COM: approximately 40% female union members.
2a.5 Density with regard to the union domain (see 2a.2)
2a.6 Density of the union with regard to the sector
Figures on union density for the whole of the telecommunications sector are not available in the Ministry of Employment. According to our estimations, it is higher than the national average – low amongst employees who are covered by private labour law (hereafter ‘private law employees’) and relatively high amongst France Telecom employees with civil servant status.
2a.7 Does the union conclude collective agreements?
The unions affiliated to the five representative trade union confederations in France (the French Democratic Confederation of Labour (Confédération française démocratique du travail, CFDT), the French Confederation of Professional and Managerial Staff – General Confederation of Professional and Managerial Staff (Confédération française de l’encadrement – confédération générale des cadres, CFE-CGC), the French Christian Workers’ Confederation (Confédération française des travailleurs chrétiens, CFTC), the General Confederation of Labour (Confédération générale du travail, CGT), the General Confederation of Labour – Force ouvrière (Confédération générale du travail – Force ouvrière, CGT-FO)) negotiate at the level of the sector.
The independent Solidarity, Unity and Democracy union (Solidaire, Unitaire, Démocratique, SUD)-affiliated Post and Telecommunications Workers Federation (Fédération des activités postales et des télécommunications, SUD-PTT) and the National Federation of Independent Unions (Union nationale des syndicats autonomes, UNSA)-affiliated Telecommunications Workers Federation, (Fédération syndicale des activités de télécommunication, UNSA-Télécoms) negotiate only in a small number of companies.
The FSU (Fédération syndicale unitaire), an education union which participates in the wage negotiations for the whole civil service, has no affiliates in the telecommunication sector.
2a.8 For each association, list their affiliation to higher-level national, European and international interest associations
The 5 representative trade union confederations in France each have an affiliate in telecommunications. In 2006, the CFDT-affiliated Unified Post and Telecommunications Workers Federation (Fédération unifiée Postes et Télécom, FUPT-CFDT) merged with two other unions and created the CFDT-affiliated Communications, Consulting and Cultural Workers Federation (Fédération de la Communication, du Conseil et de la Culture, F3C-CFDT).
At European and international levels, CGT-PTT, FUPT-CFDT and FO-COM are affiliated to UNI-Europa and UNI, as are CFDT-cadres and UGICT-CGT, which are the professional and managerial staff sections of the CFDT and CGT confederations. CFDT-cadres and UGICT-CGT do not negotiate separate collective agreements in the telecommunication sector.
The CFE-CGC-affiliated Telecommunications Managers National Union (Syndicat National des Télécoms, SNT-CFE-CGC) is affiliated to CEC/Eurocadres.
The CFTC-affiliated Post and Telecommunications Workers Federation (Fédération des Postes et Télécommunications, CFTC-PTT) is affiliated to EUROFEDOP (WCL) for its members with civil service status. It is indirectly affiliated to the ETUC, but not to one of the European Industry Federations.
SUD-PTT was created after splitting from FUPT-CFDT in 1989. At national level, it is affiliated to the Group of 10 Independent Unions (Groupe des 10 Solidaires). It has no international affiliation.
UNSA-Télécoms is affiliated to the ETUC via its confederation.
2b. Data on the employer associations
2b.1 Type of membership (voluntary vs. compulsory)
Voluntary membership.
2b.2 Formal demarcation of membership domain (e.g. SMEs, small-scale crafts/industry, sub-sectors of telecommunications, etc.)
Unetel-RST is an umbrella group for employers in the telecom sector, involving the following types of firms: telecommunication operators of telecom networks, companies that market telecommunications services, internet service providers, long-distance communications service providers, website and portal designers, producers of content for websites, cable operators, television and radio broadcasting units other than television and radio channels, companies managing passive optical networks, call centres owned by a company whose main activity is included in the field covered by the relevant collective agreement.
2b.3 Number of member companies
33 groups, representing approximately 80 companies, are members of UNETEL-RST.
2b.4 Number of employees working in member companies
61,770 private law employees on 30 September 2005 (apart from France Telecom employees with civil service status).
2b.5 Density of the association in terms of companies with regard to their domain (see 2b.2)
2b.6 Density of the association in terms of companies with regard to the sector
UNETEL-RST members represent approximately 19% of companies in the sector.
2b.7 Density in terms of employees represented with regard to their domain (see 2b.2)
2b.8 Density in terms of employees represented with regard to the sector
Private law employees of member companies represent 90% of all private law employees in the sector (apart from France Télécom employees with civil service status) (E).
2b.9 Does the employer association conclude collective agreements?
Yes.
2b.10 For each association, list their affiliation to higher-level national, European and international interest associations
UNETEL-RST is affiliated to the Movement of French Enterprises (Mouvement des entreprises de France, MEDEF) at the national level. It has no European affiliation.
3. Inter-associational relationships
3.1. Please list all unions covered by this study whose domains overlap.
FUPT-CFDT, SNT-CFE-CGC, CFTC-PTT, CGT-PTT, FO-COM, UNSA-Télécoms and SUD-PTT.
3.2. Do rivalries and competition exist among the unions, concerning the right to conclude collective agreements and to be consulted in public policy formulation and implementation?
Yes. The CGT, CFDT and UNSA are in favour of a change in the law in order to introduce majority agreements at all levels, on the basis of elections regarding representativeness.
3.3. If yes, are certain unions excluded from these rights? SUD-PTT and UNSA do not have the status of representative unions at national level and are therefore excluded from sector-level collective bargaining. UNSA applied to the courts for recognition as a representative union, but lost.
3.4. Same question for employer associations as 3.1.
UNETEL-RST
3.5. Same question for employer associations as 3.2.
No.
3.6. Same question for employer associations as 3.3.
No.
4. The system of collective bargaining
4.1 Estimate the sector’s rate of collective bargaining coverage (i.e. the ratio of the number of employees covered by any kind of collective agreement to the total number of employees in the sector).
100 % (source: Ministry of Employment).
4.2 Estimate the relative importance of multi-employer agreements and of single-employer agreements as a percentage of the total number of employees covered. (Multi-employer bargaining is defined as being conducted by an employer association on behalf of the employer side. In the case of simple-employer bargaining, it is the company or its subunit(s) which is the party to the agreement. This includes the cases where two or more companies jointly negotiate an agreement.)
All private law employees are covered by a sector-level collective agreement. There are additional sector-level agreements on minimum pay. Moreover, the major companies annually negotiate a varying number of company-level agreements on different topics.
4.2.1 Is there a practice of extending multi-employer agreements to employers who are not affiliated to the signatory employer associations?
Sector-level collective agreements are extended.
4.2.2 If there is a practice of extending collective agreements, is this practice pervasive or rather limited and exceptional?
It is normal practice in France.
4.3 List all sector-related multi-employer wage agreements* valid in 2004 (or most recent data), including for each agreement information on the signatory parties and the purview of the agreement in terms of branches, types of employees and territory covered
* Only wage agreements which are (re)negotiated on a reiterated basis. For the notion of “sector-related”, see the conceptual remarks.
| Bargaining parties | Purview of the sector-related multi-employer wage agreements | ||
| Sectoral | Type of employees | Territorial | |
| UNETEL-RST CFDT, CFE-CGC, CFTC, CGT-FO, | National collective agreement, 2000 | Private law employees | |
| UNETEL-RST CFDT, CFTC, CGT-FO | Agreement on minimum pay 2004 | Private law employees | |
| Government CFDT, CFE-CGC, CFTC, CGT, CGT-FO, FSU, UNSA | Annual pay bargaining in the civil service; promulgation by the Civil Service Ministry (no agreement in 2004) | France Telecom employees with civil service status | |
5.Formulation and implementation of sector-specific public policies
5.1 Are the sector’s employer associations and unions usually consulted by the authorities in sector-specific matters?
Rarely
5.2 Do tripartite bodies dealing with sector-specific issues exist? If yes, please indicate their domain of activity (for instance, health and safety, equal opportunities, labour market, social security and pensions etc.), their origin (agreement/statutory) and the interest organisations having representatives in them:
There are a whole series of sector-level bipartite bodies related to sector-level collective bargaining, but they do not play a special role in implementing public policy.
| Name of the body | scope of activity | Bipartite/tripartite | Origin: agreement/statutory | Unions having representatives (reps) | Employer associations having reps. |
| Joint bargaining commission (Commission mixte de négociation) | Negotiation of the national collective agreement and additional clauses | tripartite | statutory | CFDT, CFE-CGC, CFTC, CGT, CGT-FO | UNETEL-RST |
| National joint interpretation and conciliation commission (Commission paritaire nationale d'interprétation et de conciliation) | Interpretation of the national collective agreement | bipartite | agreement | CFDT, CFE-CGC, CFTC, CGT-FO | UNETEL-RST |
| Joint observatory of occupations (Observatoire paritaire des métiers) | Changes in occupations | bipartite | agreement | CFDT, CFE-CGC, CFTC, CGT, CGT-FO, | UNETEL-RST |
| Joint committee on employment (Commission paritaire pour l’emploi) | Employment and vocational training | bipartite | agreement | CFDT, CFE-CGC, CFTC, CGT, CGT-FO, | UNETEL-RST |
| Joint Administrative Committees (Commissions administratives paritaires, CAP) | Careers, training and disciplinary measures, etc. | bipartite | statutory | Election of trade union slates by France Telecom employees with civil service status | France Telecom management |
| Joint Consultative Committees (Commissions consultatives paritaires, CCP) | Careers, training and disciplinary measures, etc. | bipartite | statutory | Election of trade union slates by France Telecom private law employees | France Telecom management |
| Council for policy and management regarding social activities (Conseil d'orientation et de gestion des activités sociales COGAS) | Management of social activities (since 2005 this is done by establishment-level works councils, comités d’établissement) | bipartite | statutory | Election of trade union slates by France Telecom employees with civil service status | France Telecom management |
6. Statutory regulations of representativeness
6.1 In the case of the unions, do statutory regulations exist which establish criteria of representativeness which a union must meet, so as to be entitled to conclude collective agreements? If yes, please briefly illustrate these rules and list the organisations which meet them.
On the basis of the government decree of 31 March 1966, 5 trade union confederations are considered to be representative at national level: CFDT, CFE-CGC, CFTC, CGT, CGT-FO. They are entitled to negotiate and sign collective agreements at national, sector and company-levels. Other unions can apply to the courts for recognition of their representative status on the basis of a set of criteria concerning representativeness, which have been established by legislation and jurisprudence.
As far as sector-level collective bargaining in telecommunications (applicable to private law employees) is concerned, only the five confederations are considered to be representative and thus participate in it.
Before the 2004 Fillon law (FR0404105F), the signature of just one union was required to render an agreement valid. Since then, in order for a sector-level agreement to be valid, it should not be opposed by the majority of the representative unions in the sector (i.e. three of the five unions). At company level, unions representing the majority of employees at the most recent workplace elections have the right to opposition. Some unions have recently used this right of opposition in the companies in the sector.
A sector-level agreement can decide that sector-level or company-level agreements are valid only if they are signed by unions, which together represent the majority of employees. Such an agreement has not been signed in the telecommunications sector.
Pay of France Telecom employees with civil service status depends on centralised civil service negotiations. This is not collective bargaining in the literal sense of the term, as it requires a ministerial decision for implementation, which is made unilaterally if no agreement is reached. A law, which was adopted on 13 December 1996, established special criteria for representativeness in the civil service. According to this law, in order to be considered representative at national level, two conditions have to be met:
- have at least one seat in each of the Higher Councils of the three branches of the civil service (State, local and regional authorities and hospitals),
- obtain at least 10% of the votes for the CAPs of the three branches of the civil service and at least 2% for each.
Currently, four unions meet these criteria concerning representativeness, namely CFDT, CGT, CGT-FO and UNSA. During annual civil service pay bargaining, the government regularly meets these four unions – and also invites CFTC, CFE-CGC and FSU, without applying any particular rule. It generally tries to obtain the signatures of the majority of these unions, without being required to do so by any particular rule.
6.2 In the case of the unions, do statutory regulations exist which establish criteria of representativeness which a union must meet, so as to be entitled to be consulted in matters of public policy and to participate in tripartite bodies? If yes, please briefly illustrate these rules and list the organisations which meet them.
The government generally consults the unions that are considered to be representative at national level.
6.3 Are elections for a certain representational body (e.g. works councils) established as criteria for union representativeness? If yes, please report the most recent electoral outcome for the sector.
At company level, the results of works council elections are used as criteria for validating company-level agreements and for the right of opposition (cf. 6.1). Because the majority of France Telecom employees have civil service status, until 2004 France Telecom did not have private law employee representation bodies, such as establishment-level works councils and workforce delegates. Statutorily, only those with civil service status have CAPs. The latter’s elections are used to establish the list of representative unions for the whole of the civil service. CCPs were created in 1987 for private law employees.
The election results for France Telecom’s CAP and CPP were as follows in November 2004: CGT – 31.5%; SUD – 27.2%; CFDT – 18.3%; CGT-FO – 12.4%; CFTC – 5.5%; CFE-CGC – 2.5%; UNSA – 2.5%.
In line with the July 2004 law on telecommunications, France Telecom created private law employee representation bodies, notably establishment-level works councils. The first elections to the latter were held in January 2005 and the results were as follows:
CGT – 31.9%; SUD – 30%; CFDT – 19.4%; CGT-FO – 12.8%; CFTC – 6.0%; CFE-CGC – 2.3%; others – 0.7%.
6.4 Same question for employer associations as 6.1.
There are no official criteria regarding representativeness for employers’ organisations.
6.5 Same question for employer associations as 6.2.
No.
6.6 Are elections for a certain representational body established as criteria for the representativeness of employer associations? If yes, please report the most recent outcome for the sector.
No.
7. Comments
Two problems dominate the issue of representativeness. One is of a legal nature and concerns the unsatisfactory rules in French legislation regarding union representativeness and the validity of agreements. The other is specific to the telecommunications sector and is a result of the cohabitation of a huge operator, France Telecom (two-thirds of those working in the sector), and a large number of small companies. The heterogeneous nature of the sector is coupled with the fact that the majority of those working there have civil service status, which they have kept after the privatisation of France Telecom. This situation has resulted in juxtaposed pay scales, some of which are based on civil service rules and others on sector-and company-level bargaining. The union situation is also varied. Some unions have inherited strong public- sector membership, but are weak elsewhere. Overall, unions are finding it difficult to organise in new companies, which have sprung up since the sector has been opened up to competition and are often very small.
Solveig Grimault, Udo Rehfeldt, IRES)