Elisabeth Borne, September 3, 2020 at the Elysée.

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Ludovic Marin / AFP

  • Labor Minister Elisabeth Borne is meeting the social partners by videoconference on Tuesday on the controversial unemployment insurance reform, in order to present the government's arbitrations.

  • The meeting promises to be tense as the five representative trade unions reaffirmed in a joint statement their "deep disagreement with the founding principle of this reform".

  • But for Eric Courpotin, of the CFDT, "the weight of this reform weighs only on job seekers, without any other counterpart from employers".

This is the last meeting of the social partners before the implementation of the reform.

This Tuesday, Elisabeth Borne brings together unions and employers to present the government's plan to reform unemployment insurance.

The Minister of Labor says she is determined to "go to the end" but the unions have expressed their distrust of a reform which "is nonsense", insists Eric Courpotin, of the CFTC.

20 Minutes

takes stock.

What will the meeting on Tuesday be used for?

For the government, this videoconference meeting will allow Elisabeth Borne to present her arbitrations.

The decree implementing the future unemployment rules must be finalized in the coming weeks for entry into force in July or August, and not on April 1 as planned.

But last week, a rare occurrence, the five representative trade unions (CFDT, CFE-CGC, CFTC, CGT and FO) issued a joint statement to reaffirm their "deep disagreement with the founding principle of this reform according to which the reduction in allowances -unemployment would encourage a faster return to employment ”.

What is changing?

From this summer, the penalties for companies which multiply short contracts will be implemented… but will not be effective until next year after a one-year observation period.

Another major measure: the reform of the calculation of the daily reference wage (SJR), which should impact 850,000 job seekers according to Unedic.

On average, they will see their allocation shrink by 22%.

Two measures will be conditional on the resumption of the labor market, severely impacted by the Covid-19 epidemic, according to the

JDD

.

It will now be necessary to have worked six months in the last 24 months to receive benefits, compared to four months previously.

But this measure will not apply to young people until the situation stabilizes.

Same scenario for the declining income for salaries above 4,500 euros gross per month.

What is blocking?

For Yves Veyrier (FO), "the slogan is" we want to start from a blank sheet "", but he fears that the government does not want to "lose face".

The head of state, Emmanuel Macron, "wants to say that he has done something but he can see that the period does not lend itself to it".

Eric Courpotin fears that this reform weighs too heavily on the most precarious: “It is those who have the most difficulty in finding work that we will penalize.

For some, it is difficult to align six months "to access benefits, he warns.

The only provision which finds favor in the eyes of the unions is the bonus-malus system on short contracts, "necessary to discourage employers abusing precarious contracts".

But for Eric Courpotin, “the bonus-malus will arrive at best in 2023 and again, it is very hypothetical.

This is what makes us say that the weight of this reform weighs only on job seekers, without any other compensation from employers.

"

What does the government want to do with this reform?

Decided in July 2019 by the Philippe government after the failure of a social negotiation very supervised by the executive, the reform then aimed to achieve savings of 1 to 1.3 billion per year.

Due to the Covid-19 crisis, the government has repeatedly postponed its application.

Elisabeth Borne opened a consultation at the end of 2020, saying she was ready to discuss the "parameters" of the reform, but without giving up the spirit.

“Initially, the reform was written in a fairly favorable employment context.

It was perhaps valid at the time, but there it hits very hard and especially on the most precarious.

We cannot accept that, ”says Eric Courpotin.

“We are waiting to see what the minister will tell us, but we are not approaching it calmly.

"

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