The power balance of French public sector trade unions is changing with the implementation of an Act amending the rules on their representativeness in three civil service divisions. The law stresses that representativeness will now be based on the unions’ election results, and it is clear from the results of the first of these elections in the public sector, on 20 October 2011, that at least two unions will face the loss or reduction of rights to negotiate collective agreements.
Background
The Act on the renewal of social dialogue in the public sector (in French) adopted in July 2010 (FR1009031I) profoundly changed the rules governing industrial relations and social dialogue in the public sector. Like the reform in the private sector, brought about by the 2008 Social Democracy Act (in French) this law amends the rules on trade unions' representativeness in the three civil service divisions; national civil service, public hospitals and local government. The reform means that their representativeness will be based on the results of elections (FR1009031I). Workplace elections have therefore become critical for assessing which organisations can participate in collective bargaining and can sign agreements. The implementation of the new rules could significantly alter the balance of trade union power by challenging the privileged position of those unions which previously had a monopoly in workplace elections or in the designation of representatives to certain bodies. Until the recent reforms, trade unions could claim representativeness by presumption, derived from their historic role in the sector.
The implementation of the law
After the introduction of this reform on 20 October 2011, two million national civil servants and one million public hospital workers elected their representatives to nearly 5,700 staff representative bodies such as:
- joint administrative committees;
- joint consultative committees;
- technical committees;
- committees for health, safety and working conditions.
For the first time, all the ministries voted at the same time, as did all the hospitals, putting an end to the continuous round of voting in government departments. Some 535,000 contract personnel also voted for the first time. Local government officials, who elected their representatives in 2010, were the only group not to take part; they will vote in 2014.
The issues
There are both legal and political issues at stake. The legal aspect concerns the authority to sign agreements and obtain funding. Only trade unions that have won seats on the technical committees will be able to sign local or national agreements. The trade unions will need to have received between 3%–7.5% of the votes to be considered representative. The election result will also determine unions' resources, but only to a certain extent because of a compromise made by the government. Up to now the state has paid civil service unions €1.3 billion per year plus the costs of 17,000 full-time equivalent posts, according to estimates based on a public report and a press release (in French) from Public Service Minister François Sauvadet. However, from now on half of this subsidy will be reserved for trade unions which are elected to the technical committees. The other half will be allocated according to the percentages of votes received.
As for the political implications, the results of the elections were expected to show how civil servants felt one year after their street protests over pension reforms (FR1012011I) and with the debate continuing over the policy of replacing only one civil servant for every two who retire.
Election results
Although the results have still to be consolidated, it is clear that the General Confederation of Labour (CGT) has emerged as the leading trade union (in French) in the three civil service divisions. A government report (in French, 726Kb PDF) shows that CGT won the last, 2008, election within local government with 32.8% of the vote. The General Confederation of Labour – Force Ouvrière (CGT-FO) has, for the first time, got the majority vote in the national civil service.
Depending on the ministry, a turn-out of 51.5% was recorded in the national civil service, compared with 48.63% in the public hospital sector. A report by the Public Service Ministry giving a breakdown of the election results (in French, 17Kb PDF) in the national civil service shows:
- the CGT-FO came top of the poll with 16.6 % of the overall votes;
- second was the Unitary Union Federation (FSU) (15.9%), which lost its first position;
- third was the CGT (15.8 %);
- fourth was the French Democratic Confederation of Labour (CFDT) (14.5 %);
- fifth was the National Federation of Independent Unions (UNSA) (13.9 %).
CGT, the CFDT and the UNSA improved on their 2008 results. Other unions failed to reach the 10 % threshold:
- Solidaires (8.1 %);
- the French Confederation of Professional and Managerial Staff – General Confederation of Professional and Managerial Staff (CFE-CGC) (5.3 %);
- the French Christian Workers’ Confederation (CFTC) (3.8%);
- the General Federation of Autonomous Public Servants (FGAF) (1.3 %).
As for the elections in the public hospital sector, it can be seen from a report by the Ministry of Work, Employment and Health (in French) that the CGT made clear progress (+2.03 points) and topped the poll with 33.5 % of the votes. It was followed by the CFDT (24.5 %) and FO (22.7 %), which remained on a par with 2007. The following trade unions lost ground:
- the Independent Union – Solidarity, Unity, Democracy (SUD) (8.7 %);
- UNSA (4.4 %);
- CFTC (2.8 %);
- CFE-CGC (0.3 %);
- National Federation of Nurses (CNI) (0.6 %).
Commentary
It is difficult to draw any clear lesson from the election from the point of view of the government, with reformists and radicals balancing each other out. The CGT has preserved its leadership in the three civil services. As for the reformists, the CFDT has emerged as the first winner from this ballot. Following a continual decline since 2003, its representativeness is on the increase again in most of the ministries, including education (+1.4 points). Its global following has risen to 14.6% (+3 points compared to the 2008–2010 round of elections), probably thanks to the support of contract staff in the private education sector. UNSA's showing is also positive, attracting a growing number of supporters, as is that of CGT-FO – which pursued a blistering campaign on the ‘break-up of the public sector’ and came first in the national civil service elections. However, the first victims of the reform are becoming clear; the CFTC is disappearing from the negotiating table (FR1111021I), and the CFE-CGC will remain only in the interior and defence ministries.
Hélène Tissandier, Université Paris-Dauphine, HERA