In early January 2000, the Le Monde newspaper published a report by France's General Inspectorate of Social Affairs, alleging that there is "a system of direct or indirect funding" of the five nationally representative trade union confederations by CRI, one of the social security bodies jointly managed by employers and unions. This rekindled the debate over the funding of the trade union movement.
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In early January 2000, the Le Monde newspaper published a report by France's General Inspectorate of Social Affairs, alleging that there is "a system of direct or indirect funding" of the five nationally representative trade union confederations by CRI, one of the social security bodies jointly managed by employers and unions. This rekindled the debate over the funding of the trade union movement.
On 8 January 2000, the Le Monde newspaper published details of a report by the General Inspectorate of Social Affairs (Inspection générale des affaires sociales, IGAS) - a Ministry for Employment and Solidarity watchdog - on the running of the compulsory complementary pension fund (Caisse de retraites interentreprises, CRI). This jointly-managed body, currently chaired by the MEDEF employers' confederation manages FRF 32 billion in capital. Some 120,000 companies and 2.1 million individuals pay into this fund.
According to Le Monde, IGAS is reported to have exposed "a system of direct or indirect funding" for the five nationally representative trade union organisations which sit on the board of the CRI. This system was apparently given the blessing of the representatives of MEDEF. Between 1995 and 1998, the unions are reported to have collected FRF 34.3 million (EUR 3.2 million) in the form of salaries for full-time union officials. It is also alleged that trade unions received financial support through "technical assistance agreements" which "provided for retainers or expense refunds, training sessions for union leaders, speaking time at general and board meetings […] in exchange for reimbursements of expenses and advertisements in union newspapers… all at predetermined amounts". This, it claimed, was really a system of "trading service, skill or even influence", which "was secretly negotiated, on a union-by-union basis, between the director general [of the CRI] and the very highest levels of union confederations and federations".
In response to the reports, theCGT union confederation stated that "French trade unions have nothing to hide in terms of their sources of funding. They are funded in the following three ways: union dues paid by members, which form the basis of union independence; state subsidies for clearly defined activities (such as participation in industrial tribunals, training, economic and social information...); [and] refunds for some expenses and various resources and facilities made available by social protection agencies, state-run companies and regional and local authorities." CGT states that "on the whole, although companies are keen to have paid union representation, they do not contribute financially to the unions' activities. By contrast, employers' associations are largely funded by the wealth generated by a company's workers." The CGT believes that "it is time to change the system […] New and genuine industrial democracy is required to serve the interests of workers. This would involve a democratic functioning of institutions, with workers themselves electing their representatives, and a closer participation of users and members in strategic policy decisions. The social functions fulfilled by the unions justify the existence of a transparent and fair system of public financial support in parallel to funding through union member dues."
CFDT, which is "committed to additional avenues of funding other than union dues", advocates that "whenever warranted, a transparent system of agreements should be set up. These agreements should set out the criteria for the attribution and use of these funds similar to the regulations implemented by the social partners in jointly-managed vocational training organisations."
The chair of CFE-CGC, Jean-Luc Cazettes stated that the "unions need financial assistance ... ""Only 8% of all French workers and only 6% of those in the private sector pay dues to a trade union. Unions cannot continue to exist and defend employees in the workplace on only FRF 1,000 per year, per member." In the opinion of Mr Cazettes, "there must be state funding based on election results, supported by clear and precise legislation."
On the subject of the revelations made in the IGAS report published by Le Monde, CFTC asks "just who this criticism of the parity principle really benefits." This union confederation is keen to see "a broad conference on the parity principle" so as to provide "an opportunity for full-scale debate on the current system of worker representation, including its legal, institutional and financial ramifications".
Marc Blondel, general secretary of CGT-FO, is opposed to public funding of unions, since this would transform trade union activists into "civil servants". He stated that "trade unionism needs to be based on voluntary membership and commitment." If this is not the case, "workers will not bother to join a union and will view union activists as mere civil servants at the beck and call of workers."
Eurofound recommends citing this publication in the following way.
Eurofound (2000), Debate over trade union funding, article.
