• The head of government receives this Wednesday the social partners to "sweep the news".

  • A government that is preparing its social return against a backdrop of a health crisis and the end of “whatever the cost”.

  • And who intends to maintain on October 1 the entry into force of the reform of unemployment insurance.

It is not just the children who will be back to school this week.

For its part, the government is preparing its social re-entry, and it promises to be stormy.

Health crisis, reform of pensions and unemployment insurance, rise in fuel prices threatening the purchasing power of households, and a call for mobilization launched by unions on October 5: so many points on which the government will have to juggle.

The Prime Minister, Jean Castex, receives from Wednesday to Friday the social partners in bilateral talks to "sweep the news", explains Matignon.

By displaying a "listening posture" which leaves the intentions of the executive on the main social issues that lie ahead.

Tightening of unions on the reform of pensions and unemployment insurance

The Prime Minister on Wednesday kicked off these one-on-one meetings with the boss of the CFDT, Laurent Berger, then that of Force Ouvrière, Yves Veyrier. He will continue on Thursday with, among others, Philippe Martinez (CGT) and Geoffrey Roux de Bézieux (Medef), before finishing Friday morning with Benoît Teste, secretary general of the FSU. Objective of these interviews: once again to take the temperature on a battery of files put on the table by Emmanuel Macron in July. And among the most explosive subjects, the pension reform and that of unemployment insurance, against which students and employees will demonstrate on October 5, at the call of an inter-union bringing together the CGT, FO, FSU, Solidaires and youth organizations.

On the first, in limbo since the Covid-19 crisis, the government is waiting for the social partners "to recall their basic position", yet already well known, and evokes a simple "exchange on the method". "By 2022, it would be madness to relaunch a project on this issue, given the difficult climate in which the country finds itself," said Laurent Berger in

Le Monde on

Tuesday. Before driving the point home this Wednesday at the end of his meeting with the Prime Minister, declaring that a consultation on pensions "does not have to be". This is good, a few months before the presidential election, the executive does not seem in a hurry to put this reform back on the table.

Another point of tension, the reform of unemployment insurance, which the Head of State wants to be "fully implemented from October 1". And for Matignon, “all economic indicators encourage doing so”. However, "it is not by reducing the rights of job seekers, and in particular the most precarious, that we will resolve the issue of precariousness", criticized RMC Yves Veyrier (FO). But despite the discontent of the unions, "the government is demonstrating that notwithstanding the crisis, it has not given up on carrying out these structural reforms with relatively blunt content, believes political scientist Stéphane Rozès, president of Cap (Advice, analyzes and perspectives) and teacher at Sciences po. On the other hand, he wants at all costs to avoid demonstrations of social discontent in the street ”.

Evaluate the impact of health restrictions on the organization of companies

For the political scientist, "the state of mind of employees is very polarized by health uncertainties, which promises a worried return to school but without mobilization, despite calls from the intersyndicale".

On the program, the head of government is thus expecting "feedback" on the consequences of the health crisis, from the application of the health pass to compulsory vaccination in certain professions, including changes in teleworking or the adaptation of support measures.

And must steer negotiations with trade unions around the impact of health policies on business organization.

"The economic return promises to be better than expected, but the government must make trade-offs on the nature and extent of the end of" whatever the cost ", analyzes Stéphane Rozès.

An assessment that it must base on growth and employment data ”.

The Prime Minister thus wants to tackle "tensions on recruitment", especially in services (restaurants, hotels) or construction, by reflecting on a "more global plan" on training, in particular for the long-term unemployed.

Purchasing power and inflation

And this social re-entry could see the question of purchasing power return to the debate, while fuel prices are soaring and this Wednesday, a new increase in regulated gas prices applies. "There is discontent linked to purchasing power and demands for increased salaries and upgrading of civil servants carried by a certain number of trade union organizations," confirms Stéphane Rozès. The State has "done its part" by spending "more than 30 billion euros per year to support low wages", defended Tuesday the Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, who does not foresee a coup of an inch to the minimum wage.

And if Emmanuel Macron recalled in his speech of July 12 that "the abolition of the housing tax, the reduction in social contributions, the reduction in income tax [represented] 170 euros more per month for an employee at the minimum wage ”, the rise in consumer prices accelerated in August to 1.9% over one year, against 1.2% in July, according to the provisional estimate published Tuesday by INSEE.

“The rise in regulated energy prices is not the only cause,” says Stéphane Rozès.

There are also the consequences of the health crisis, which has caused supply problems, leading to cyclical inflation ”.

Society

Social movement: An inter-union calls for a day of mobilization on October 5

Politics

Unemployment insurance: The reform must be postponed "for at least six months", says the CFTC

  • Emmanuel Macron

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  • Back to school

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