The Craftwork Employers’ Association (Union professionnelle artisanale, UPA [1]) held its national congress on 25 October 2007 in Paris. At the congress, the association’s new president, Pierre Martin, who was elected in January 2007 for three years, invited delegates to participate fully in the discussions on the theme of ‘the local economy’. Mr Martin noted that profound societal changes had led French society to lose some of its shared values; he also denounced the development of so-called ‘individualism’.[1] http://www.upa.fr/index.php
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.
The Craftwork Employers’ Association (Union professionnelle artisanale, UPA) held its national congress on 25 October 2007 in Paris. At the congress, the association’s new president, Pierre Martin, who was elected in January 2007 for three years, invited delegates to participate fully in the discussions on the theme of ‘the local economy’. Mr Martin noted that profound societal changes had led French society to lose some of its shared values; he also denounced the development of so-called ‘individualism’.
The UPA president urged the Prime Minister, François Fillon, along with the Minister of the Economy, Finance and Employment, Christine Lagarde – both of whom were invited to speak at the congress – to make proposals for an ambitious societal plan with the aim of developing the local economy. Mr Martin reminded them that, since 1998, the number of craftwork companies had increased by more than 100,000 companies. Among the 920,000 companies operating in the craft industry, which altogether employ about 2.5 million people, almost 600,000 new jobs had been created in the last decade.
Report on past activities
During the congress, UPA only briefly referred to its assessment of the December 2001 agreement on social dialogue in the craft industry, which was signed by all of the trade union confederations: 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) and the General Confederation of Labour – Force ouvrière (Confédération générale du travail – Force ouvrière, CGT-FO) (FR0111104N). The craftwork employers did not hide the fact that they were somewhat puzzled by the opposition of the Movement of French Enterprises (Mouvement des entreprises de France, MEDEF) to the agreement’s implementation.
UPA also gave a brief outline of the results of the last employment tribunal elections (élections prud’homales), during which the organisation lost almost eight percentage points in votes within the employer electoral college (FR0301107F).
Policy resulting from congress discussions
At the congress, the craftwork employers expressed their joint commitment to becoming ‘promoters of this contemporary vision of the world’, where ‘the local economy is vital for all actors in the French economy’.
At the same time, the UPA president highlighted the industry’s difficulties in recruiting young people, although there are real career opportunities for them in the industry. Mr Martin argued in favour of a profession that offers the ‘best social ladder’.
Meanwhile, UPA agreed with the government’s proposal to merge the National Employment Agency (Agence nationale pour l’emploi, ANPE) and the National Union for Employment in Industry and Commerce (Union nationale interprofessionnelle pour l’emploi dans l’industrie et le commerce, UNEDIC) with the Associations for Employment in Industry and Commerce (Associations pour l’emploi dans l’industrie et le commerce, Assedic) under the following two conditions: that this reform should provide ‘better personalised support for the unemployed’ as well as ‘real answers for companies seeking to recruit’.
In relation to the business environment of the craft industry (FR0208103F), UPA did not reject the idea of revising legislation regulating commercial activities; however, it stressed that any changes should take place ‘in the context of real consultations with all the actors and especially those at the level of the local economy’. The association fears that new legal measures, which are currently being examined, will lead to ‘putting into opposition the craft industry, local commerce and manufacturers, on the one hand, and large-scale retailing, on the other’.
Moreover, the UPA’s president showed his determination in developing partnerships with other employer associations, so that it will ‘no longer be in head-on opposition’ with them.
Commentary
At the end of UPA’s congress – under its president’s encouragement – the craftwork employers seemed determined to participate more fully in economic and social life and to try to renew contact with the other employer organisations. This represents a marked change in contrast to the tone and differences of opinion expressed in the past; for instance, it was clearly different to relations during the intersectoral bargaining on vocational training (FR0109102F) and when MEDEF decided to withdraw from the board of the National Employed Workers’ Sickness Insurance Fund (Caisse nationale d’assurance maladie des travailleurs salariés, CNAMTS) (FR0111104N).
Benoît Robin, Institute for Economic and Social Research (IRES)
Eurofound recommends citing this publication in the following way.
Eurofound (2008), Craftswork employers seek to develop local economy, article.
