In December 2003, the French parliament is due to debate a social dialogue bill submitted by the government, which lays down new rules for collective bargaining. It proposes the introduction of a 'majority principle' for the signature of collective agreements, an extension of the scope of collective bargaining compared with that of the law, and allowing company agreements to depart from the terms of sectoral accords. The social partners have criticised the bill, for differing reasons.
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In December 2003, the French parliament is due to debate a social dialogue bill submitted by the government, which lays down new rules for collective bargaining. It proposes the introduction of a 'majority principle' for the signature of collective agreements, an extension of the scope of collective bargaining compared with that of the law, and allowing company agreements to depart from the terms of sectoral accords. The social partners have criticised the bill, for differing reasons.
The Minister of Social Affairs has decided to expedite the adoption of new rules governing the collective bargaining process, which have been awaited for some time (FR0304103N). A bill on social dialogue, which is currently being considered by the Supreme Administrative Court (Conseil d’Etat), will thus be debated by parliament in December 2003. Parliament will also consider proposed legislation to implement a recent intersectoral social partner agreement on vocational training (FR0308102N). The proposed bill enshrines in legislation the 'common position' on collective bargaining reform agreed on 16 July 2001 by employers’ organisations and four trade union confederations - the French Democratic Confederation of Labour (Confédération française démocratique du travail, CFDT), the General Confederation of Professional and Managerial Staff-French 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) and the General Confederation of Labour-Force Ouvrière (Confédération générale du travail-Force Ouvrière, CGT-FO) (FR0108163F). However, some proposals go beyond the provisions of this agreement.
The social dialogue bill provides for a phased-in procedure subject to assessment in five years’ time. Three key changes are set out in the proposed legislation. These are :
extending the scope of collective bargaining compared with that of the law, with legislation in the industrial relations area only being tabled after negotiations at intersectoral level;
introducing the 'majority principle' for the conclusion of collective agreements, based on the procedures set out in the social partners' 2001 common position. These essentially attempt to ensure that agreements are valid only if concluded, or not opposed, by trade unions supported by a majority of employees concerned; and
changing the hierarchical relationship between the various levels of bargaining by allowing company-level agreements, under certain circumstances, to depart from the provisions contained in collective agreements reached at sector level.
On the final issue, the government has gone beyond the terms of the social partners' common position and, in so doing, proposes to change the current hierarchy in the collective bargaining structure.
Although the Movement of French Enterprises (Mouvement des entreprises de France, MEDEF) views the government’s proposals as a step in the right direction, it nevertheless considers them to be insufficient. The trade unions have also criticised the bill, but for different reasons. CFTC and CGT-FO contend that the proposed legislation moves too far towards the creation of a majority-agreement system whereas the General Confederation of Labour (Confédération générale du travail, CGT) and CFDT have criticised the government for not going far enough. Moreover, the proposal to allow company-level agreements to opt out of the provisions of sector-level accords met with unanimous condemnation. CFE-CGC offered the harshest criticism of the draft legislation and even went so far as to walk out of a meeting on 14 October, at which the National Collective Bargaining Commission (Commission nationale de la négociation collective, CNNC) was consulted on the bill. At the meeting, the unions expressed their formal disapproval of the proposals.
The Minister of Social Affairs has let it be known that he is prepared to amend the proposed legislation. It is also possible that parliament may seek changes to the bill.
Eurofound recommends citing this publication in the following way.
Eurofound (2003), Government proposes collective bargaining reform, article.
