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Negotiations between the social partners have stumbled upon the introduction of a bonus-malus to discourage companies from using short-term contracts. PHILIPPE HUGUEN / AFP

The social partners threw in the towel Wednesday (February 20th) in the negotiations on the reform of unemployment insurance wanted by the government. Trade unions and employers have not found common ground on how to limit the use of very short contracts, which are synonymous with precariousness. The employee representatives wanted the introduction of a bonus-malus system to punish abusive employers. A red line for the bosses who repeated it Wednesday, acting the failure of the negotiations. The government is therefore taking control of this reform. The French paritarianism is thus put into question.

By calling for help from the State, the social partners recognize the breakdown of this system which has existed since 1958 and which consists of the joint management by an equal number of representatives of employees and employers, of social institutions: unemployment insurance but also social security, pension plans.

"The moment we call the state is that at some point, we do not feel really autonomous. And today, it may be a bit of a habit. On training, the confederations called for help from the minister. It's a bit : "Mistress, mistress ... We can not do it, come help us." In fact, we have just adopted the end of managerial paritarianism , "summarizes Jean-François Foucard, the CFE-CGC negotiator the union of executives.

Government takes over

In concrete terms, the Prime Minister and the Minister of Labor will convene the social partners according to a timetable and modalities that should be known in the coming days. This is what Minister Muriel Pénicaud said Wednesday. And this is where they will have to floor on the almost impossible equation that was given them to solve: to reduce the abysmal debt of the unemployment insurance (35 billion euros), at the rate of one billion by about year.

It means reducing the rights of the unemployed. Unable to accept for the unions. While fighting abusive recourse to short contracts, one-third of which lasts only one day. This could go through the famous "bonus-malus" system that will make it more expensive for companies to use these precarious contracts. Emmanuel Macron has spoken in favor of this system until very recently. But the bosses obviously do not want to hear about it.

A poisoned gift for Emmanuel Macron

The government is resuming its hand. We imagine that politically, it also takes the risk of passing itself an unpopular reform. Reducing the rights of the unemployed can fuel even more the anger of the "yellow vests", but of many other French who navigate between periods of work and periods of paid unemployment to live.

And if the government decided to carry out this reform by decree, while neutralizing the social partners, it is a risk of seeing the protests grow. A new big general and national strike will be held on March 19 at the call of the CGT, FO and Solidaires. On February 5th, yellow vests were part of several events of the same order that brought together tens of thousands of people in France.