Coronavirus: the “work more” of Medef annoys unions and politicians

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In France, Medef wants to make employees work more after the coronavirus crisis and is causing controversy. Unions and some politicians have deemed these employers' incentives to work more after confinement unworthy.

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On the threshold of the long Easter weekend, a sentence in the columns of the Figaro by the representative of the French bosses, Geoffroy Roux de Bézieux, did not go unnoticed. "We will have to ask ourselves sooner or later the question of working time, public holidays and paid vacation to accompany the economic recovery and facilitate, by working a little more, the creation of additional growth ", estimated the employer manager in this interview.

Far from distancing himself from the employer's words, the Secretary of State for the Economy, Agnès Pannier-Runacher, went in the same direction. She warned that it would “ probably work more than we did before ” to “make up for” the loss of activity caused by confinement

“ Today, workers are paying the cost of this health crisis. It is not up to them to pay next, by sacrificing their holidays, "said CFDT secretary general Laurent Berger, in response to Medef's call to work more, to make up for the harmful effects of confinement.

"This proposal to increase working hours is completely indecent. The workers are already making efforts. We'd better talk about how companies will also take part in rethinking our economic model for example" @CfdtBerger # JT20h

Today, almost half of the French economy is at a standstill. French growth collapsed by 6% in the first quarter, weighed down by the Covid-19 pandemic.

" Do we want to drive the French crazy?" "

It is not just the unions that this call from employers has made leaps and bounds. Politicians from all sides reacted strongly. Lashed on the left by the first secretary of the Socialist Party, Olivier Faure, who was moved by the " cynicism " of the Medef, the call to " work more " was also on the right by Xavier Bertrand (ex-LR), President of the Hauts-de-France Regional Council. An employee who is " not responsible for all this ", we tell him " at the exit it is (him) who (will) pay the bill? But what do we want, we want to drive the French crazy? ", Prevailed the former Minister of Labor of Nicolas Sarkozy.

Solidarity is first of all that of those who can assume it by going back on unfair tax measures: ISF, flat tax. It is up to the powerful and the wealthy to make the effort. It would be unacceptable for the first trenches to be asked to pay for the "war" effort. pic.twitter.com/0T6OvGkBNe

For the CFDT, the important thing today is not the economic question. It is that of social cohesion. Because the health crisis will undermine the French social protection system.

Partial unemployment already affects eight million workers. For Force Ouvrière, it is up to employers to make efforts on the issue of dividends in particular. This is already the case in some companies, where the dividends were not paid but integrated into a solidarity fund.

There are going to be a lot of people who will find themselves in great precariousness and without work, and at the same time, while there will be new needs following this pandemic, we are asking those who are already at work to multiply working hours, instead of hiring those who will find themselves unemployed ...

Céline Verzeletti, Confederal Secretary of the CGT

Pauline Gleize

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• France
• Coronavirus
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• Unions
• Employment and Work