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.
Part 1 – Railway transport operations
1. Sectoral properties
On the basis of NACE code 60.1, according to the General industrial classification of economic activities within the European Communities (Nomenclature générale des activités économiques dans les Communautés européennes, NACE), ‘transport via railways’ covers freight and passenger transport, except for urban transport, which comes under 60.2. In France, one main operator functions in NACE 60.1: the French National Rail Company (Société nationale des chemins de fer français, SNCF). Since 1996, the French Rail Network (Réseau ferré de France, RFF) exists alongside SNCF. It owns and manages the network’s infrastructure. Operational exploitation and maintenance of the network are carried out by SNCF, which is thus a rail transport company to which RFF contracts out maintenance and servicing of the infrastructure. In the future, other operators are likely to enter this sector.
Directive 2001/12/EC amending Council Directive 91/440/EEC on the development of the Community’s railways aims to open up freight transport by rail to competition. This directive was transposed into French law on 15 March 2005. Since then, the following six companies have obtained a railways licence, enabling them to use the network, which is managed by RFF:
- SNCF;
- Europorte 2, a subsidiary of Eurotunnel;
- CFTA Cargo, a subsidiary of Connex (now known as Veolia Environment);
- Belgian Railways (Société Nationale des Chemins de fer Belges, SNCB);
- Luxembourg Railways (Chemin de Fer Luxembourgeois, CFL);
- Rail 4 Chem, a subsidiary of the German company BASF.
For the time being, these companies have few employees working in France – an insignificant number compared with those working for the incumbent operator. Therefore, this study will only consider the group SNCF-Participations, involved in rail transport – that is, SNCF – as well as the approximately 700 staff working for RFF. SNCF is a commercial and industrial state-run body (établissement public à caractère industriel et commercial, EPIC).
In addition, SNCF subcontracts two types of economic activity concerning the railways which involve bargaining activity, namely catering and auxiliary handling and maintenance work. In the former, the Railway Catering Employers’ Association (Groupement des employeurs de la restauration ferroviaire, GERF) concerned catering staff on board trains. However, GERF has almost disappeared because of changes in the companies involved in this sector. SNCF left GERF in 1996 after it had completely subcontracted catering, thus weakening the association. Two companies – Compagnie des wagons-lits and Cremonini Restauration – are involved in railway catering today, but in 2006, they still had not reformed GERF together, as demanded by the trade unions in both companies. The last agreement covering railway catering was signed in 1984 and is now obsolete.
Likewise, an agreement was signed in 1998 between the Employers’ Association of Rail and Air Handling and Maintenance Auxiliaries (Syndicat professionnel des auxiliaires de la manutention et de l’entretien pour le rail et l’air, SAMERA), the General Confederation of Labour (Confédération générale du travail, CGT), the French Democratic Confederation of Labour (Confédération française démocratique du travail, CFDT), the French Christian Workers’ Confederation (Confédération française des travailleurs chrétiens, CFTC) and 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 agreement covered approximately 13,000 employees of subcontractors working for SNCF and the Parisian public transport network (Régie autonome des transports parisiens, RATP), only some of whom work on SNCF sites. Each year since then, additional clauses have been negotiated.
Because it is difficult to identify the exact number of employees concerned, these two areas of activity will not be included in the description of the sector.
| 1994 | 2004 | |
|---|---|---|
| Number of companies | 1 | 2 |
| Aggregate employment | 183,000 | 178,000 |
| Male employment | 90% | 82.9% |
| Female employment | 10% | 17.1% |
| Aggregate sectoral employment as % of total employment in economy | 0.7% | 0.6% |
2. The sector’s unions and employer associations
A total of nine trade unions are present in SNCF (FR0605029I), namely the:
- National Federation of French Railway Workers, Executives and Technicians (Fédération nationale des travailleurs, cadres et techniciens des Chemins de fer français), affiliated to CGT;
- Federation of Railway Workers’ Union Branches (Fédération des syndicats de travailleurs du rail), affiliated to the Independent Union – Solidarity, Unity, Democracy (Union syndicale – Solidaires, Unitaires, Démocratiques, SUD);
- Federation of Railway Workers (Fédération des cheminots), affiliated to CFDT;
- Trade Union Federation of Railway Workers (Fédération syndicaliste des cheminots), affiliated to the General Confederation of Labour – Force ouvrière (Confédération générale du travail – Force ouvrière, CGT-FO);
- UNSA Railway Workers’ Federation (UNSA Fédération des cheminots), affiliated to the National Federation of Independent Unions (Union nationale des syndicats autonomes, UNSA);
- CFTC Railway Workers’ Federation (Fédération CFTC des cheminots), affiliated to CFTC;
- National Union of Supervisory and Management Staff of the Railways and Related Activities (Syndicat national du personnel d’encadrement des chemins de fer et des activités connexes), affiliated to CFE-CGC;
- Independent Train Drivers Union (Fédération générale autonome des agents de conduite, FGAAC);
- National Union of Senior Managers (Syndicat national des cadres supérieurs, SNCS).
The first six of these trade unions are recognised as being representative of all SNCF staff; the latter three are recognised as being representative of certain occupational categories.
In RFF, three union branches of the transport trade unions are present, affiliated to CFDT, CFE-CGC and UNSA.
On the employers’ side, SNCF and RFF are single negotiating entities and the chair of each of them is the principal bargaining authority.
2a Data on the unions
2a1. Type of membership (voluntary vs. compulsory)
Trade union membership is voluntary, as is the case everywhere in France.
2a2. Formal demarcation of membership domain (e.g. blue-collar workers, private sector workers, railways sector employees, etc)
Some 90% of RFF employees are managerial and professional staff, many of whom are engineers; its composition is therefore very different from that of SNCF. All three trade unions in RFF have few members, although employees participate actively in workplace elections. The following information concerns the trade unions in SNCF.
Apart from three independent trade unions, which are representative of specific occupational categories – executives for CFE-CGC, senior management for SNCS and train drivers for FGAAC – the other six unions are of a general nature and recruit members in all occupational categories. Nevertheless, sociological differences arise between them: CGT has more members among manual workers in the workshops, as does SUD, whereas CFDT has more members among ticket inspectors and ticket office staff. UNSA replaced the old supervisors’ and executives’ union and therefore has more members in these occupational categories. UNSA’s members in RFF originally came from SNCF; they were among the 100 or so SNCF employees who were seconded to RFF.
2a3. Number of members
Each trade union releases its membership information. It can sometimes be difficult therefore to access exact figures. Realistic estimates indicate the following:
- between 29,000 and 30,000 members in CGT – not counting pensioners, of whom there are many in this union;
- 4,000 members in CFDT, whose membership declined by almost half after a crisis in 2003 linked to pension reforms (FR0309103F);
- 4,000 members in SUD;
- between 1,000 and 2,000 members in CGT-FO;
- between 600 and 700 members in FGAAC;
- between 600 and 700 members in CFTC.
2a4. Female union members as a percentage of total union membership
The proportion of female members is also uncertain, and is estimated at between 10% and 13%.
2a.5 Density with regard to the union domain (see 2a.2) & 2a.6 Density of the union with regard to the sector
Overall union density is about 25%, thus putting SNCF among the companies with the highest union density in France.
2a7. Does the union conclude collective agreements?
As it is a public company, SNCF management has, in principle, a certain degree of autonomy in bargaining with the trade unions in the framework of compulsory annual collective bargaining, which covers pay, working time organisation and incentives – as is the case for all French companies. Moreover, in recent years, various negotiations have taken place with a view to improving social dialogue in the company; SNCF has one of the highest numbers of disputes in the country.
RFF also has bargaining on pay and incentives, concluding an agreement in 2006, and recently various agreements on implementing the reduction in working time.
2a8. For each association, list their affiliation to higher-level national, European and international interest associations (including cross-sectoral associations).
The CGT, CFDT, CGT-FO, CFTC, CFE-CGC and UNSA rail unions belong to their respective confederations, while SUD-Rail belongs to SUD, and FGAAC and SNCS are independent. The CGT, CFDT, CGT-FO, CFTC and UNSA rail unions belong to the European Transport Workers’ Federation (ETF). The CGT, CFDT and CGT-FO rail unions belong to the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF).
2b Data on the employer associations
2b.1 Type of membership (voluntary vs. compulsory)
2b.2 Formal demarcation of membership domain (e.g. SMEs, small-scale crafts/industry, subsectors of railways, etc)
2b.3 Number of member companies
2b.4 Number of employees working in member companies
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
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
2b.9 Does the employer association conclude collective agreements?
2b.10 For each association, list their affiliation to higher-level national, European and international interest associations (including the cross-sectoral associations).
As is the case for employees, membership of employer organisations is voluntary in France. SNCF management is an independent entity, as is RFF management. SNCF is a member of the Union of Public Transport (Union des transports publics, UTP), which brings together operators of passenger transport in towns and urban areas. UTP is present within different European bodies: EuroTeam, the European Union Committee of the International Association of Public Transport (Union Internationale des Transports Publics, UITP), the European Committee for Standardization and the Sectoral Social Dialogue Committee. However, apart from SNCF, the companies which are members of UTP do not come within NACE code 60.1. Therefore, the questions in section 2b cannot be fully answered, as collective bargaining in the sector is limited to company-level bargaining with SNCF; the same is true for RFF.
SNCF is a member of the Community of European Railway and Infrastructure Companies (CER) and the European Centre of Enterprises with Public Participation and of Enterprises of General Economic Interest (Centre européen des entreprises à participation publique et des entreprises d’intérêt économique général, CEEP).
3. Inter-associational relationships
3.1. Please list all unions covered by this study whose domains overlap.
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?
3.3. If yes, are certain unions excluded from these rights?
3.4. Same question for employer associations as 3.1.
3.5. Same question for employer associations as 3.2.
3.6. Same question for employer associations as 3.3.
The above description and the way industrial relations are organised in France mean that the questions in this section are not relevant for France: all of the trade unions which are recognised as being representative have access to collective bargaining. As far as SNCF is concerned, all of the unions are recognised as being representative in the company; CFE-CGC, FGAAC and SNCS are recognised as such for certain occupational categories. They all, therefore, have access to corresponding collective bargaining.
4. The system of collective bargaining
Collective agreements are defined in line with national labour law regardless of whether they are negotiated under a peace obligation.
4.1. Sector’s rate of collective bargaining coverage
4.2. Relative importance of multi-employer agreements and of single-employer agreements as a percentage of the total number of employees covered
4.2.1. Is there a practice of extending multi-employer agreements to employers who are not affiliated to the signatory employer associations?
4.2.2. If there is a practice of extending collective agreements, is this practice pervasive or rather limited and exceptional?
4.3. Sector-related multi-employer wage agreements* valid in 2004 (or most recent data)
Likewise, the particular nature of French industrial relations and the structure of the sector mean that these questions are of limited significance.
Collective bargaining coverage is 100%; neither extensions nor multi-employer agreements exist in SNCF and RFF.
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? If yes, which associations?
SNCF has a great degree of autonomy, because it is a public company. However, when agreements have a significant impact on the company, it depends to a large extent on the ministry to which it is accountable, namely that responsible for transport. The chair of SNCF, who is the authority for collective bargaining, is nominated by the government and is accountable to it. The links are close, but no bipartite or tripartite body exists in respect of relations between the social partners and the ministry. These features are shared by RFF.
5.2. Do tripartite bodies dealing with sector-specific issues exist?
SNCF is a public company. However, a 1983 reform provided employee representation bodies that are similar to those in the private sector. It has works councils (comités d’entreprise) and a central works council (comité central d’entreprise), workplace health and safety committees (Comités d’hygiène, de sécurité et des conditions de travail, CHSCT) and employee representatives (délégués du personnel). Staff representatives, who are presented on trade union lists, are elected to the Board of Directors (Conseil d’administration) in line with the 1983 law on greater democracy in the public sector. Specific joint institutions also operate at various levels, such as central occupational commissions, local commissions and network commissions.
The 1996 reform which led to the establishment of RFF was contested, especially within SNCF. The government decided in 1998 to create a Higher Council of the Railways Public Service (Conseil Supérieur du Service Public Ferroviaire, CSSPF), which was officially established on 29 June 1999. The CSSPF is a consultative body under the auspices of the minister responsible for transport. Composed of 45 persons and chaired by a member of parliament, it gives opinions and periodically assesses the French railway system and its own activities in annual reports to the prime minister and the presidents of the National Assembly and Senate. However, it has not done much since 2002. The state, the management of both companies and users are represented in the CSSPF.
Another national institution, called the National Transport Council (Conseil national des transports, CNT), includes – among others – SNCF trade union and employer representatives. It is a consultative body and is associated with planning and implementing transport policy. The CNT is consulted about issues concerning the organisation and functioning of land, air and maritime passenger and freight transport. It comprises members of parliament, local and regional councillors, as well as representatives of companies involved in transport operations, nationally representative transport unions and various categories of users of passenger and freight transport, in addition to experts. The CNT is a broad body, but is not involved in collective bargaining – neither is the CSSPF.
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?
The answer to this question is to be found in parts 2 and 3.
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?
Participation of trade union representatives in the CSSPF is distributed among the representative unions that are present in SNCF and RFF. Participation in the CNT is reserved for trade unions which are recognised as being representative at national level, namely CGT, CFDT, CGT-FO, CFTC and CFE-CGC. It should be recalled that neither councils are tripartite bodies.
6.3 Are elections for a certain representational body (e.g. works councils) established as criteria for union representativeness?
Elections to works councils, which are organised on a regional basis, and elections for employee representatives are considered to be tests of representativeness. The distribution of positions in works councils is calculated on a proportional basis; the same applies for employee representatives and members of the CHSCTs in the workplaces.
The results of the 2006 SNCF works council elections were as follows; the results of elections for employee representatives are very similar.
| CGT | CFDT | UNSA | SUD | CGT-FO | CFTC | FGAAC | CFE-CGC | Others | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | 40.1 | 11.6 | 14.5 | 15.0 | 6.6 | 8.1 | 3.0 | 1.0 | 0.1 |
6.4. Same question for employer associations as 6.1.
Not applicable.
7. Commentary
As indicated above, no conflict arises between recognition and legitimacy, as far as both trade union and employer organisations are concerned. Nevertheless, relatively many disputes still occur in SNCF compared with the French industrial scene in general. This feature is, however, tending to become less pronounced, as a result of the various agreements that have been concluded on preventing disputes. Fewer local disputes, in particular, have erupted; at the same time, there is great opposition to transport policy. RFF, which mainly comprises managerial staff and professional engineers, has a different profile, in which industrial conflict is not a major issue (FR0502101N).
Part 2 – Railway infrastructure
Analysis of the railway infrastructure sector – in the same way as that of French railway transport – is marked by the central historical place of SNCF. Following on from European Directive 91/440/EEC on the development of the Community’s railways, another public establishment – RFF – was created in 1997, which divided the previous attributions of SNCF into two parts. (FR9702113N). SNCF is now only responsible for the use and management of the network, for which it receives remuneration from RFF, while the latter is responsible for railway infrastructure. RFF is a small structure, employing 820 people as at 30 June 2007, made up of 12 regional directorates. These directorates are responsible for the railway sections of the contracts between the state and the regions that are related to the five-year plan (in French, 113Kb PDF) (Contrats de plan État-régions), which partly use the services of 54,000 SNCF employees or those of its subsidiaries for carrying out work on the infrastructure (in French).
1. Sectoral properties
| 1994 | 2005/2006** | |
|---|---|---|
| Number of companies | 1 | 2 |
| Aggregate employment* | 61,000 | 54,800 (SNCF: 54,000; RFF: 760) |
| Male employment* | 90% | 78% (for RFF: 57%) |
| Female employment* | 10% | 22% (for RFF: 43%) |
| Aggregate employees | 61,000 | 54,800 |
| Male employees | 90% | 78% |
| Female employees | 10% | 22% |
| Aggregate sectoral employment as % of total employment in economy | 0.20% | 0.18% |
| Aggregate sectoral employees as % of total number of employees in economy | 0.20% | 0.18% |
Notes: * employees plus self-employed persons and temporary agency workers. ** or most recent data.
Source: SNCF annual report 2006 and RFF 31 December 2006
2. The sector’s unions and employer associations
This section includes the following trade unions and employer organisations:
- trade unions which are party to sector-related collective bargaining;
A total of nine trade unions are present in SNCF, six of which are recognised as being representative of all SNCF employees – namely the:
- National Federation of French Railway Workers, Executives and Technicians (Fédération nationale des travailleurs, cadres et techniciens des Chemins de fer français), affiliated to CGT;
- Federation of Railway Workers (Fédération des cheminots), affiliated to CFDT;
- Trade Union Federation of Railway Workers (Fédération syndicaliste des cheminots), affiliated to CGT-FO;
- CFTC Railway Workers’ Federation (Fédération CFTC des cheminots), affiliated to CFTC;
- Federation of Railway Workers’ Union Branches (Fédération des syndicats de travailleurs du rail), affiliated to SUD;
- UNSA Railway Workers’ Federation (UNSA Fédération des cheminots), affiliated to UNSA.
The other three trade unions are recognised as being representative of certain occupational categories:
- National Union of Supervisory and Management Staffs of the Railways and Related Activities (Syndicat national du personnel d’encadrement des chemins de fer et des activités connexes), affiliated to CFE-CGC;
- National Union of Senior Managers (Syndicat national des cadres supérieurs, SNCS);
- Independent Train Drivers Union (Fédération générale autonome des agents de conduite, FGAAC).
SNCF management is a single negotiating body; the chair is the principal bargaining authority.
In RFF, in 2007, three union branches of the transport unions were present, affiliated to CFE-CGC, CFDT and UNSA. RFF management is also a single negotiating body; the chair is the principal bargaining authority.
- trade unions which are a member of the sector-related European federation ETF;
- National Federation of French Railway Workers, Executives and Technicians;
- Federation of Railway Workers;
- Trade Union Federation of Railway Workers;
- Railway Workers’ Federation;
- UNSA Railway Workers’ Federation.
- employer organisations which are party to sector-related collective bargaining;
UTP.
- employer organisations which are a member of the sector-related European employer federations CER and the European Rail Infrastructure Managers (EIM).
SNCF is a member of CER and CEEP.
RFF is a commercial and industrial state-run body (EPIC) and is not a member of the sector-related European employer federations.
2a Data on the unions
2a.1 Type of membership (voluntary vs. compulsory)
Trade union membership is voluntary, as is the case everywhere in France.
2a.2 Formal demarcation of membership domain (e.g. blue-collar workers, private sector workers, railways sector employees, etc)
Some 90% of RFF employees are managerial and professional staff, many of whom are engineers; its composition is therefore very different from that of SNCF. All three trade unions in RFF have few members, although employees participate actively in workplace elections. The following information concerns the trade unions in SNCF.
Apart from three independent trade unions, which are representative of specific occupational categories – executives for CFE-CGC, senior management for SNCS and train drivers for FGAAC – the other six unions are of a general nature and recruit members in all occupational categories. Nevertheless, sociological differences arise between them: CGT has more members among manual workers in the workshops, as does SUD, whereas CFDT has more members among ticket inspectors and ticket office staff. UNSA replaced the old supervisors’ and executives’ union and therefore has more members in these occupational categories. UNSA’s members in RFF originally came from SNCF; they were among the 100 or so SNCF employees who were seconded to RFF.
2a.3 Number of union members (i.e. the total number of members of the union as a whole)
Not available.
2a.4 Number of union members in the sector
It has not been possible to collect data on the number of members in the railway infrastructure sector alone. Caution is necessary regarding trade union membership; it is difficult to access exact figures as the trade unions themselves release the number of their members. Realistic estimates (in French, 95Kb PDF) for some of the trade unions suggest the following figures:
- between 18,000 and 20,000 members in CGT – not including pensioners, of whom there are many in this union;
- 4,000 members in CFDT, whose membership declined by almost half after a crisis in 2003 linked to pension reforms;
- 4,000 members in SUD;
- 8,500 members in CGT-FO, 2,700 of whom are in railway infrastructure;
- between 600 and 700 members in FGAAC;
- between 600 and 700 members in CFTC.
2a.5 Female union members as a percentage of total union membership
The proportion of female members is also uncertain, at somewhere between 18% and 22%.
2a.6 Density with regard to the union domain (see 2a.2)
See point 2a.2.
Figures on union density for the whole of the sector, in terms of NACE classification, are not available in the Ministry of Labour, Social Relations and Solidarity (Ministère du Travail, des Relations Sociales et de la Solidarité). Moreover, the few figures that are available should be treated with great caution.
2a.7 Density of the union with regard to the sector
Overall union density is about 15%–20% in SNCF and 10% in RFF.
2a.8 Does the union conclude collective agreements?
Yes.
2a.9 For each association, list their affiliation to higher-level national, European and international interest associations (including cross-sectoral associations).
- National level:
The CGT, CFDT, CGT-FO, CFTC and CFE-CGC unions belong to their respective confederations. The UNSA Railway Workers’ Federation belongs to UNSA and SUD-Rail belongs to SUD.
- European level:
The CGT, CFDT, CGT-FO, CFTC, UNSA and FGAAC rail unions belong to ETF.
- International level:
The CGT, CFDT and CGT-FO rail unions belong to ITF.
2b Data on the employer associations
2b.1 Type of membership (voluntary vs. compulsory)
Voluntary.
2b.2 Formal demarcation of membership domain (e.g. SMEs, small-scale crafts/industry, subsectors of transport, etc)
No.
2b.3 Number of member companies (i.e. the total number of members of the association as a whole)
Two major companies: SNCF and RFF.
2b.4 Number of member companies in the sector
Two major companies: SNCF and RFF.
2b.5 Number of employees working in member companies (i.e. the total number of the association as a whole)
Not available.
2b.6 Number of employees working in member companies in the sector
Not available.
2b.7 Density of the association in terms of companies with regard to their domain (see 2b.2)
Estimated at 100%.
2b.8 Density of the association in terms of companies with regard to the sector
Estimated at almost 100%.
2b.9 Density in terms of employees represented with regard to their domain (see 2b.2)
Estimated at almost 100%.
2b.10 Density in terms of employees represented with regard to the sector
Estimated at almost 100%.
2b.11 Does the employer association conclude collective agreements?
Yes.
2b.12 For each association, list their affiliation to higher-level national, European and international interest associations (including the cross-sectoral associations).
For employers, membership of employer organisations is voluntary in France. SNCF management is an independent entity, as is RFF management. SNCF is a member of UTP, which brings together operators of passenger transport in towns and urban areas. UTP is present within different European bodies: EuroTeam, UITP, the European Committee for Standardization and the Sectoral Social Dialogue Committee. However, apart from SNCF, the companies which are members of UTP do not come within NACE code 60.1. Therefore, the questions in section 2b cannot be fully answered, as collective bargaining in the sector is limited to company-level bargaining with SNCF; the same applies for RFF.
SNCF is a member of CER and CEEP.
RFF is a commercial and industrial state-run body (EPIC) and has no affiliation.
3. Inter-associational relationships
3.1. Please list all unions covered by this study whose domains overlap.
- National Federation of French Railway Workers, Executives and Technicians, affiliated to CGT;
- Federation of Railway Workers, affiliated to CFDT;
- Trade Union Federation of Railway Workers, affiliated to CGT-FO;
- Railway Workers’ Federation, affiliated to CFTC;
- Railway Workers’ Federation, affiliated to UNSA.
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?
No, not currently, as all federations are affiliated to the five confederations which have the status of representative unions at national level and, therefore, the right to participate in collective bargaining.
3.3. If yes, are certain unions excluded from these rights?
A few other trade unions are present in the sector, but they have not obtained the status of representative unions which would enable them to participate in collective bargaining.
3.4. Same question for employer associations as 3.1.
UTP.
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
Collective agreements are defined in line with national labour law regardless of whether they are negotiated under a peace obligation.
Apart from those with civil service status and railway workers who are seconded to RFF by SNCF, about 700 direct RFF employees come under private labour law and are covered by a company agreement.
SNCF employees are 100% covered by either:
- the civil service status covering SNCF railway staff; or
- internal rule RH254, which applies to some 6,000 contractual staff; or
- the collective agreement for railways of local interest; or
- the transport collective agreement.
Other collective agreements can apply for SNCF subsidiaries, depending on the nature of their work. For example, for catering subsidiaries, the collective agreement for railway catering or the Wagon-lits collective agreement applies.
4.1. Sector’s rate of collective bargaining coverage
Estimated at almost 100%.
4.2. Relative importance of multi-employer agreements and of single-employer agreements as a percentage of the total number of employees covered
According to data from the Ministry of Labour, Social Relations and Solidarity – based on the Survey on Labour Activity and Employment Status (Activité et conditions d’emploi de la main-d’œuvre, ACEMO) – 100% of employees in the sector are covered by an agreement. This is negotiated in the framework of the staff service regulations in the railways. Some 83.6% are covered by a sector-level agreement, while the remaining 16.4% are covered by a company-level agreement.
4.2.1. Is there a practice of extending multi-employer agreements to employers who are not affiliated to the signatory employer associations?
Collective bargaining coverage is 100%. Neither extensions nor multi-employer agreements exist in SNCF. The same is true for RFF.
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. Sector-related multi-employer wage agreements* valid in 2005 (or most recent data)
* Only wage agreements which are (re)negotiated on a reiterated basis. In case of regionally differentiated, parallel agreements, an aggregate answer explaining the pattern may be given.
No such agreements exist.
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? If yes, which associations?
SNCF and RFF have a great degree of autonomy, because they are public companies. However, when agreements have a significant impact on either company, both companies depend to a large extent on the ministry to which they are accountable, namely that responsible for transport. The chair of SNCF, who is the authority for collective bargaining, is nominated by the government and is accountable to it. The links are close, but no bipartite or tripartite body exists in respect of relations between the social partners and the ministry. These features are shared by RFF.
5.2. Do tripartite bodies dealing with sector-specific issues exist?
No tripartite body addresses the areas mentioned. SNCF is a public company; however, the 1983 reform provided employee representation bodies that are similar to those in the private sector. It has works councils and a central works council, CHSCTs and employee representatives. Staff representatives, who are presented on trade union lists, are elected to the Board of Directors in line with the 1983 law on greater democracy in the public sector. Specific joint institutions also operate at various levels, such as central occupational commissions, local commissions and network commissions.
The National Transport Council (CNT) includes, among others, SNCF trade union and employer representatives. It is a consultative body and is associated with the planning and implementation of transport policy. The CNT is consulted about issues concerning the organisation and functioning of land, air and maritime passenger and freight transport. It comprises representatives of parliament, local and regional councils, as well as companies involved in transport operations, nationally representative transport unions and various categories of users of passenger and freight transport, in addition to experts. The CNT is a broad body, but is not involved in collective bargaining.
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?
A government decree, adopted on 31 May 1966, states that the trade unions affiliated to the five confederations – CGT, CFDT, CGT-FO, CFTC and CFE-CGC – benefit from ‘presumption of irrefutable’ representativeness at national level and, therefore, have the right to participate in collective bargaining both at sector and company levels. Other trade unions can acquire representative status by proving their representativeness to the courts, which give a ruling on the basis of five criteria of representativeness: independence, union dues, membership, experience and patriotic attitude during World War Two, in line with the 10 May 1946 Parodi circular and the 11 February 1950 law on collective bargaining. Jurisprudence has added other criteria, such as results of workplace elections.
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?
The government generally consults the trade unions that are considered to be representative at national level. Participation in the CNT, which is not a tripartite body, is reserved for unions which are recognised as being representative at national level, namely CGT, CFDT, CGT-FO, CFTC and CFE-CGC.
6.3. Are elections for a certain representational body (e.g. works councils) established as criteria for union representativeness?
Elections to works councils, which are organised on a regional basis, and elections for employee representatives are considered to be tests of representativeness. The distribution of positions in works councils is calculated on a proportional basis; the same applies for employee representatives and members of the CHSCTs in the workplaces.
The results of works council elections in recent years were as follows; the results of elections for employee representatives are very similar.
| CGT | CFDT | UNSA | SUD | CGT-FO | CFTC | FGAAC | CFE-CGC | Others | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | 38.95 | 18.45 | 11.57 | 12.74 | 6.52 | 6.36 | 3.70 | 1.41 | 0.3 |
| 2004 | 47.14 | 7.47 | 14.02 | 14.79 | 6.61 | 5.88 | 3.34 | 0.76 | - |
| 2006 | 43.24 | 10.04 | 14.64 | 14.51 | 6.49 | 7.29 | 2.90 | 0.62 |
6.4. Same question for employer associations as 6.1.
No official criteria exist regarding representativeness for employer organisations.
The 4 May 2004 law modified conditions for the validity of collective agreements without changing criteria regarding representativeness. In November 2006, the Economic and Social Council (Conseil économique et social, CES) recommended basing trade union representativeness and the right to participate in collective bargaining on representativeness elections. It also proposed subordinating the validity of collective agreements to their being signed by trade unions that represent the majority of the employees during such elections. These recommendations were adopted with the support of CGT, CFDT, UNSA and the Craftwork Employers’ Association (Union professionnelle artisanale, UPA). However, the employer organisations the Movement of French Enterprises (Mouvement des entreprises de France, MEDEF) and the General Confederation of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (Confédération générale des petites et moyennes entreprises, CGPME), as well as three unions – CGT-FO, CFTC and CFE-CGC – voted against the recommendation.
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?
No.
7. Commentary
The process of liberalisation of this sector is relatively recent, dating from a decade ago. Caution is therefore necessary in any analysis, as figures do not always exactly reflect the actual situation. It would be worthwhile studying in greater depth more qualitative considerations that are inherent particularly in historical and cultural aspects. On the one hand, the increase in the number of operators and those involved in this sector contributes to its fragmentation and also divides employee representation. On the other hand, growing competition leads to the temptation to ensure the development of coverage for employees by non-extendable company agreements, rather than sector-level collective agreements.
Benoît Robin, Institute for Economic and Social Research (IRES)