A social week that promises to be busy. Under pressure from demonstrators and without financial margin, the Prime Minister, Sébastien Lecornu, continues to try to respond to social anger by increasing the number of meetings with unions and youth, Monday November 9. “By segmenting his responses to the social movement” between employees and high school students or between the private and public sectors, the Prime Minister “deprives himself of a breather effect” and “takes the risk that the social movement takes hold over the long term”, reacted to AFP the national secretary of Unsa, Laurent Escure.
“As long as the demands are not met, we will continue to mobilize,” also warned the general secretary of the CGT, Sophie Binet, at the microphone of France Inter on Monday. Franceinfo takes stock of the week's social calendar.
Negotiations with social partners Monday morning
Faced with a continuing social movement, the government invites trade unions and employers' organizations to Matignon on Monday, to "provide answers to the questions of purchasing power and wages". This "social conference" was announced on Thursday when hundreds of thousands of people demonstrated throughout France, in particular to denounce the high cost of living.
The increase in the minimum wage is the main demand of the unions. The net monthly minimum wage is today 1,477.93 euros. The CGT is asking for an increase of 10%, or around 150 euros net monthly, while the CFDT is demanding 100 euros. Force Ouvrière is calling for a minimum wage of “80% of the median salary, or 2,000 euros”. On the government side, the Minister of Labor, Jean-Pierre Farandou, considered it "important", Friday on TF1, to try to "cross the bar" of 1,500 euros net for the monthly minimum wage. An increase “would be possible from December 1, if the discussions are concluded quickly,” according to him.
The government, which has no control over increasing salaries other than the minimum wage, will also propose solutions "to promote obligatory annual negotiations in companies and in the branches", promised Jean-Pierre Farandou. The employers' organizations repeat for their part that they cannot support the combination of an increase in wages and a reduction in reductions in employer contributions.
In a letter Friday to unions and employers, Sébastien Lecornu said he heard "the expectations" on purchasing power as much as the "concerns" of bosses about employment, and promised "concrete answers" that he will present to the press after the social conference. For its part, the inter-union association bringing together the eight main national unions declared that it would decide on Monday evening on the continuation of the movement.
An exchange with youth representatives Monday afternoon
Initially excluded from the meetings planned for Monday, the representatives of high school and university students will finally be received at Matignon by the Prime Minister in the afternoon, before a first committee to reform the Parcoursup guidance system. The post-baccalaureate orientation platform, at the heart of criticism from the student and high school movement, is in fact set to evolve from 2027 before being replaced in 2028.
The Ministers of Education, Edouard Geffray, and of Higher Education, Philippe Baptiste, will also participate in this meeting, as will trade unions and employers' organizations, parents' associations, parliamentarians from both chambers and representatives of higher education establishments. This committee will present "first recommendations during November", the Prime Minister said on Wednesday during a debate organized on this subject in the Senate. Certain proposals could ultimately be the subject of a “bill”.
A call to strike and demonstrate on Tuesday
Without waiting for the outcome of Monday's meetings, an Education inter-union, bringing together high school student unions (USL), students (Student Union, Unef, Fage, National Student Federation) as well as teachers and staff (FSU, FO, CGT, SUD), has already called for a day of strike and demonstration on Tuesday.
These organizations say they are still waiting for a response from the government on “the salaries and careers” of Education personnel. They also denounce an "unacceptable authoritarian response", which "has reached another milestone" with the use of the police to evacuate general assemblies at the university, as mentioned by France 3 Paris-Ile de France. They also point to “abusive administrative campus closures” such as in Rouen (Seine-Maritime), reports France 3 Normandie.
Discussions with public service unions on Friday
Excluded from the social conference, the public service unions, who are demanding the unfreezing of their index point, will be received by the Prime Minister on Friday at Matignon. The index point for civil servants, which is used to calculate their gross salary, was frozen from 2011 until 2015, followed by a thaw in 2016 and 2017, before being blocked again. The index has nevertheless been revalued twice in recent years, in 2022 and 2023, in a context of a significant increase in inflation. A new uniform revaluation of 1% would cost the State 2.4 billion euros, which is "not possible", the office of the Minister of Public Accounts, David Amiel, argued this summer.
A new mobilization of yellow vests on Saturday
