The main political events of 2002 were the presidential and parliamentary elections, which took place in quick succession in the spring of 2002. In the presidential elections, after the second round of voting (FR0205106F [1]) on 5 May 2002, Jacques Chirac, the candidate supported by the conservative Movement for the Republic (Rassemblement pour la République, RPR), was again elected as President of the Republic. The general election was subsequently held in June 2002, resulting in the various parties of the right gaining control of parliament with a sizeable majority over the Socialist Party (Parti Socialiste, PS) and its partners in the previous coalition government. Jean-Pierre Raffarin, who was subsequently confirmed as Prime Minister by President Jacques Chirac, tabled his new conservative government's programme to the National Assembly on 3 July 2002.[1] www.eurofound.europa.eu/ef/observatories/eurwork/articles/industrial-relations-undefined/social-partners-react-to-presidential-election-result
This record reviews 2002's main developments in industrial relations in France.
Political developments
The main political events of 2002 were the presidential and parliamentary elections, which took place in quick succession in the spring of 2002. In the presidential elections, after the second round of voting (FR0205106F) on 5 May 2002, Jacques Chirac, the candidate supported by the conservative Movement for the Republic (Rassemblement pour la République, RPR), was again elected as President of the Republic. The general election was subsequently held in June 2002, resulting in the various parties of the right gaining control of parliament with a sizeable majority over the Socialist Party (Parti Socialiste, PS) and its partners in the previous coalition government. Jean-Pierre Raffarin, who was subsequently confirmed as Prime Minister by President Jacques Chirac, tabled his new conservative government's programme to the National Assembly on 3 July 2002.
Using this momentum as a springboard, the political right encountered a few problems in attempting to restructure itself as a single party incorporating hitherto divergent components whose disunity has often led to electoral failure. The Socialist Party, which received fewer votes than the far right in the presidential elections, suffered a heavy political and psychological defeat. The Communist Party (Parti Communiste) was also particularly weakened by these elections. The entire political left seems to have been affected in a long-term fashion by this very serious electoral defeat.
The present government now has five years with no major election ahead to press on with its policies (FR0208103F). It is confronted with some very urgent and important social issues such as pensions, healthcare and their funding, the revision of legislation on the 35-hour week, privatisation - including the electricity groupEDF, the telecommunications groupFrance Télécom and the airlineAir France- and the national minimum wage.
In common with other European countries and all developed economies, France experienced a continuing slowdown in economic activity during 2002. In the autumn, when putting together the state budget for 2003, the government gambled optimistically, according to analysts, by assuming a 2.5% growth rate. It is thus aiming to reduce the pressure exerted by the EU on France due to its level of budget deficit. Although the government based its calculations on a 1.2% growth rate for 2002, the final result was not expected to exceed 0.9%. In this context, unemployment has consolidated around a threshold of 9% of the working population, which means that over the year to the end of October 2002, it had risen by 4.7%.
Collective bargaining
When the official statistics on collective bargaining in 2002 are published, in July 2003, they will probably show a reduction of negotiating activity in quantitative terms, and certainly a shift in the themes dealt with. Laws passed in 1998 (FR9806113F) and 2000 (FR0001137F) on the reduction of working time and the introduction of the 35-hour working week have acted as a stimulus to bargaining, both at sector and company levels.
Pay
Empirical studies undertaken in 2002 appear to show that the focus of bargaining has been redirected toward pay. This is partly due to the fact that many agreements on the reduction of working time signed since 1998 provided for periods of wage freeze that are now coming to an end. The'index of basic monthly pay for all workers' (indice du salaire mensuel de base de l'ensemble des salariés, SMB) increased by 0.6% in the third quarter of 2002, bringing the increase to 2.5% over a year. The'index of basic hourly pay for blue-collar workers' (indice du salaire horaire de base ouvrier, SHBO) rose by 0.8% in the third quarter 2002 and by 3.5% over the previous year. The trend in the consumer prices index (for all households and excluding tobacco) was a 0.5% increase in the third quarter of 2002, and a 1.7% rise between September 2001 and September 2002.
In July 2002, the national minimum wage (salaire minimum interprofessionnel de croissance, SMIC) was increased by 2.4% (FR0207105F). This increase applied only to employees who were still on a 39-hour week, with those on a 35-hour week receiving a 1.8% rise. The government is seeking to harmonise the multiple SMIC rates which have existed since the adoption of the legislation introducing the 35-hour week (FR0208102F).
The rise in the SMIC, along with bargaining in large companies, are still the basic drivers of French wage levels.
Working time
Since 2000, companies with more than 20 employees have been obliged by law to implement a 35-hour week. The results of these years of bargaining on working time cuts are now considerable (FR0210106F). As of the third quarter of 2002, average weekly working time stood at 35.7 hours, compared with 36.1 hours a year previously (a reduction of 1.2%). On 30 September 2002, almost 80% of full-time employees were working fewer than 36 hours per week. As in previous quarters, it was the smallest companies (with 10-19 employees) that had reduced their working time the most. However, this trend will soon run out of steam, as the small businesses which were to begin reducing working time from 2002 are going to be given exemptions by the government (see below under'Legislative developments').
Job security
The current economic downturn is resulting in rising unemployment and an increase in the number of redundancy plans (plans sociaux), which usually accompany workforce reductions. The number of redundancies in the first half of 2002 was up by 36% on the same period in 2001, and the deficit of theUNEDIC unemployment insurance fund deficit is forecast to reach EUR 3.5 billion in 2002 (FR0207102N).
In this context, in October 2002 the government appointed Claude Viet to the new position of'redundancy supremo' (FR0211103N). His role is to set up an interministerial body to coordinate government action addressing the impact of company restructuring and its effect on employees.
Equal opportunities and diversity issues
In July 2002, the National Institute for Statistics and Economic Research (Institut National de la Statistique et des Etudes Economique, INSEE) published a study of the role of gender in career-long pay trends (FR0209103F). It found that sex inequality is still a reality. Not only has it not disappeared, it has become more pronounced from one generation to the next. The pay gap between men and women entering the labour market in the 1990s stood at 22%, while it was 15% in the 1970s. A Ministry of Social Affairs survey also demonstrated that women’s pensions are on average 42% lower than men’s. Plans have been put into practice to reduce inequalities in vocational training.
Other issues
In December 2002, employers' organisations and three of the five nationally representative trade union confederations - the French Democratic Confederation of Labour (Confédération française démocratique du travail, CFDT), French Christian Workers’ Confederation (Confédération française des travailleurs chrétiens, CFTC) and 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) - renewed their agreement on the jointly managed UNEDIC unemployment insurance scheme (FR0301106F). With UNEDIC in financial crisis, the accord seeks to balance its budget over 2003-5 through cuts in benefit entitlement and increased contributions. The General Confederation of Labour (Confédération générale du travail, CGT) and General Confederation of Labour-Force ouvrière (Confédération générale du travail - Force ouvrière, CGT-FO) criticised this agreement and its perceived negative consequences for unemployed people.
In December 2002, employers’ associations and some unions in the electricity and gas industries - basically consisting of the state-owned companies EDF and GDF - reached an agreement providing for the transfer of the industries' special pension scheme to a public fund run jointly by the social partners (FR0302109F). This agreement might exert a major influence on future negotiations on pensions reform and the decisions in this area the government intends to take by June 2003 (FR0210105F).
Legislative developments
In July 2002, at the beginning of the new parliament, a law entered into force aiming to facilitate the recruitment of young people by businesses (FR0208101N andFR0210103N). This legislation encouraged the recruitment of young people by offering employers reduced social security contributions if they recruit young people. As of the end of December 2002, the government reported that almost 28,000 applications covered by this measure had been made to the state’s unemployment management units (ASSEDIC).
In September 2002, the new government took steps to limit the scope of the previous administration's legislation on the reduction of working time (FR0209105F). Most large companies had already implemented the 35-hour week, but the government still wanted to ease the obligation on companies with fewer than 20 employees to start reducing working time from 2002. In order not to change statutory working time from 35 hours, which would have jeopardised the position of the 80% of full-time employees who had already seen their working time reduced, small businesses are instead to be allowed to raise their overtime quotas. Their employees will still work a 39-hour week, but the 36th to 39th hours inclusive will be counted as special overtime, paid at a lower rate than that worked in companies that have already reduced working time.
Shortly before the end of the previous term of parliament, a'social modernisation' law was passed, which among other measures strengthened the monitoring powers of employee representative bodies with regard to collective redundancies (FR0101121F andFR0107172F). This fiercely-criticised law was suspended in December 2002 for 18 months pending substantial amendments aiming to restrict its scope (FR0201102F). The government would like the social partners to reach an agreement on the issue, but commentators believe that there is little chance of this happening.
The organisation and role of the social partners
The issue of the representative status of unions is still highly controversial, especially in relation to the signing of collective agreements. A debate thus took place in 2002 to assess if the time was ripe for a requirement for unions signing a collective agreement to be not only recognised officially as representative by the state, but also to have the support of the majority of employees in the area covered by the agreement.
In December 2002, private sector employees (as well as those working in state-run commercial companies, plusFrance Télécom andla Poste employees without civil servant status) and employers across the country elected representative on jointindustrial tribunal s (conseils de prud'hommes), which are responsible for resolving disputes between employers and employees through conciliation or by making rulings. These important elections take place every five years and provide an important indicator of the relative strength of trade unions and employers' organisations. The 2002 elections (FR0301107F) were marked by a decline in turn-out, falling from 34.4% in 1997 to 32.7% in 2002 among employees. The results show stability in the relative positions of the unions, although the gaps between them have changed somewhat. There was some increase in support for independent unions, such as the National Federation of Independent Unions (Union nationale des syndicats autonomes, UNSA) and the Group of 10 Solidarity (G10 Solidaires) coalition. For details, see the table below.
| Union | 1997 | 2002 |
| CGT | 33.2 | 32.1 |
| CFDT | 25.5 | 25.2 |
| CGT-FO | 20.6 | 18.3 |
| CFTC | 7.6 | 9.7 |
| CFE-CGC | 5.9 | 7.0 |
| UNSA | 0.7 | 5.0 |
| G10 Solidaires | 0.3 | 1.5 |
| Others | 6.1 | 1.3 |
Among employers, the Employers' Alliance (Union des employeurs, UE) of'traditional' employers' organisations - the Movement of French Enterprises (Mouvement des entreprises de France, MEDEF), the General Confederation of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (Confédération générale des petites et moyennes entreprises, CGPME), the Craftwork Employers' Association (Union professionnelle artisanale, UPA), the National Federation of Farmers' Unions (Fédération nationale des syndicats d'exploitants agricoles, FNSEA) and the National Union of the Liberal Professions, (Union Nationale des Professions Libérales, UNAPL) - won 80.1% of the vote. This marked a fall-off in support, due to the success of a slate run by'social economy' (mutual insurance societies, cooperatives, and not-for-profit organisations) employers, which won 11.3% of the vote. The turn-out among employers was a little higher than in previous elections.
In April 2002, the minister of employment and solidarity controversially opted to extend to the whole craft industry an agreement on the development of social dialogue signed in December 2001 by UPA and the five representative trade unions (FR0206101N). The other main employers' associations, MEDEF and CGPME, had criticised the agreement - which introduces a new levy on employers - and opposed its extension to companies outside UPA's membership. This controversy underlined tensions between employers' organisations that were evident during the year and changes in the pattern of French employers' representation. These tendencies also formed the backdrop in June 2002 to the resignation of Jacques Freidel, the president of CGPME, after an internal dispute (FR0207101N). CGPME elected Jean-François Roubaud as its new president at its general assembly in October 2002 (FR0211101N).
A number of major conferences and congresses were held by social partner organisations in 2002:
the CFDT trade union confederation held its 45th national congress in May (FR0206103N). François Chérèque was elected as general secretary, succeeding Nicole Notat, who was not seeking re-election after 10 years in the post. The report on activities tabled by the outgoing general secretary was endorsed by a large majority of delegates (78%), the statutes were amended and a number of resolutions were adopted;
after clashes at its 1999 congress, the CFTC union confederation held its 48th national congress in November 2002 against a more peaceful backdrop (FR0212101N). A new executive team headed was elected, which is to promote the expansion of CFTC's presence, especially in small and medium-sized companies;
the independent UNSA union federation held its third national conference in January (FR0202101N). Originally a grouping of mainly public sector unions, UNSA has been seeking to improve its presence in the private sector and establish itself as a intersectoral organisation, thus asserting its representative status. The conference confirmed this approach in the run-up to the elections to industrial tribunals in December 2002 (see above); and
the MEDEF employers' confederation held an extraordinary congress in January, at which resolutions were passed calling for major change in areas such as working time, industrial relations, training, social security and taxation (FR0202103N). MEDEF's proposals were aimed at launching a debate with both trade unions and political parties in the run-up to the political elections in the first half of 2002.
Industrial action
Many disputes in the private sector between 1998 and 2000 related to bargaining on the reduction of working time. The fact that such bargaining has been largely completed meant that there was a noticeable decline in the level of industrial action in 2001. This downward trend may well have continued into 2002 (though no statistics are yet available), with the various elections delaying some action that might have taken place before them. Talks on pay, which had the potential to be conflictual, seem to have been affected by the impact of the worsening macroeconomic conditions and further rises in unemployment.
Throughout the year, disputes occurred over company closures and mass redundancies - as atLustucru (FR0207103N),Daewoo (FR0205101N) andBiscuiterie Nantaise (FR0203101N). There were also a number of disputes centring on pay and employment security, affecting several major retailers, fast-food restaurants and other service sector companies (FR0206106F,FR0202104F,FR0203104N andFR0203102N). These latter disputes have been interpreted as heralding a new type of mobilisation among young employees and workers in relatively ill-paid, insecure jobs. In the autumn, a lorry drivers’ strike was resolved by a new collective agreement signed by three unions (FR0212102N). In various parts of the public sector, strikes were called in the context of issues such as attempted privatisation, pay, working conditions, budget cuts and job losses - the groups involved included civil servants (FR0211106F), customs officers (FR0205102N) and local public transport workers (FR0205103N). Doctors and other categories of staff in the health sector took strike action many times in 2002 (FR0203105F), with a number of these disputes continuing into 2003.
Employee participation
No new legislation on the issue of employee participation was passed in 2002, although some of the policies adopted by the previous government have now been enforced. Debate has focused on the laws relating to redundancies brought in by the Socialist-led government and the changes made by the new parliament in this area (see above under'Legislative developments').
European Works Councils were not an important theme for discussion in 2002, nor was the national implementation of the EU Directive(2001/86/EC) on employee involvement linked to the European Company Statute (ECS) (EU0206202F). The 2002 EU Directive (2002/14/EC) on informing and consulting employees (EU0204207F) has not yet been transposed into French law.
Telework
2002 saw no specific response in France to theagreement on telework signed in July 2002 by the EU-level central social partners (EU0207204F), which is to be implemented by the national social partners in the Member States (by July 2005). Teleworking is not a topic that has been much referred to in France recently, although studies on this form of working were produced in the late 1990s. Currently, 4% of employees telework, a lower proportion than the European average. However, in October 2002, at the end of a conference on telework in Europe, the minister for research and new technology stated that'the state … must promote telework'. She laid out four areas in which work must be done to foster the growth of teleworking, including'the adjustment of both labour law and social security regulations and the criteria for promotion to this new form of work'.
In terms of individual company developments, as part of a restructuring process in 2002 (FR0210101N), the telecommunications companyAlcatel made telework one of its redeployment tools.
Vocational training
There was no specific response in 2002 by the French social partners to the'joint framework of actions for the lifelong development of competencies and qualifications ' agreed by the EU-level social partners in March 2002 (EU0204210F). However, the issue of vocational training, as debated at EU level, is a topic firmly on the agenda of the social partners in France. A reform of vocational training was the subject of intersectoral bargaining in 2000-1, as part of the'industrial relations overhaul' project (FR0002143F). These negotiation did not result in an agreement (FR0111123F). Nevertheless, all the social partners are in favour of resuming the dialogue on this topic, and bargaining was set to start again in January 2003 (FR0302104N).
Legislation aiming to recognise experience gained through employment and validate it for university access has now come into force (FR0003144N andFR0101121F). This is also a path used to try and combat gender discrimination in the labour market.
New forms of work
The measures adopted in the process of reducing working time over recent years have resulted in a considerable diversification of working patterns, which has facilitated the growth of part-time employment. At the same time, rising unemployment has meant that recruitment has slowed. Almost half of the 2 million job seekers looking for employment in industry are unemployed after a period in precarious employment.
According to areport carried out by the Ministry of Labour and published in 2002, temporary work agencies are not only labour providers, but have become experts in recruitment, including that of permanent staff. Moreover, anotherreport published by the Ministry of Labour stressed the extent of changes affecting the employment norms and the labour market in the fields related to information technology. This concurs with earlier studies that demonstrate the scope of changes occurring in work patterns and norms by surveying successive generations of workers.
Over 2001 and 2002, a number of industrial tribunal rulings highlighted the'abusive' use of temporary agency work in the French automobile industry. The use of agency workers is widespread in this sector, and tribunals have found that in some cases this has exceeded the bounds of the law (FR0203107F).
Other relevant developments
Working conditions and health and safety seem to have climbed up the industrial relations agenda in 2002. Debate on these topics is encouraged by recent provisions allowing more effective intervention by company-level hygiene, safety and working conditions committees (FR0201101F). Although, overall, the number of occupational hazards and work-related accidents has fallen in the long term, they have recently begun to increase slightly (FR0204105F). Above all, their nature is changing, with stress, bullying and sexual harassment being given more attention. Companies and unions are tending to get more involved in this issue than before .
In January 2002, four trade union confederations - CFDT, CFE-CGC, CFTC and CGT - set up an'inter-union employee savings committee' to deal with new legislation on employee savings schemes, which will be subject to negotiations at company and sector level (FR0203103N).
In October, the Economic and Social Council (Conseil économique et social, CES), adopted unanimously (ie with the votes of all the employers’ associations and unions) a report favouring an increased social role for the European Union (FR0211105F). Among other points, it reiterated the importance of EU-wide sector-level bargaining.
The new government demonstrated its willingness to abandon previous policies on increasing or maintaining staffing levels in the civil service (FR0211106F). This has resulted principally in jobs created in the state education system and local authorities under the previous government's youth employment programme not being renewed or safeguarded (FR0210103N). Disputes took place as a result in 2002.
Outlook
2002 was marked by elections - political elections in the spring, followed by industrial tribunal elections among employees and employers in December. This coincidence in timing, and the significant developments that these two events revealed, resulted in a slowdown in negotiating activity among the social partners.
In terms of policy, the new right-wing government flagged up its intentions immediately on taking office by introducing significant legislation in a range of areas, which will no doubt have an impact on the coming year (FR0208103F). Further, 2003 should see issues which have been postponed coming to the fore. One of the major topics of debate will be pensions reform, with the main trade unions signing a joint declaration on this matter in January 2003 (FR0302108F). The coming year thus looks set to be an important one for industrial relations in France. (Christian Dufour, IRES)
Eurofound recommends citing this publication in the following way.
Eurofound (2003), 2002 Annual Review for France, article.
