Agreement on negotiated departures: the government is satisfied, the CGT is up in arms

"Social dialogue works when you give it time," reacted Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu on X after the agreement reached between the three employers' organizations (Medef, CPME, U2P) and two unions, the CFDT and the CFTC.

FO is still reserving its response while the CGT and the CFE-CGC have indicated that they will not sign.

"Social dialogue works (...) and it proves that organizations, whether social or employer-based, have a sense of responsibility," added Labour Minister Jean-Pierre Farandou on Francetvinfo.

With the agreement reached Wednesday evening, employees who lose their jobs after an amicable agreement with their employer will see their maximum compensation period reduced from 18 to 15 months if they are under 55 years old, and to 20,5 months from that age, compared to 22,5 months today for 55-56 year olds, and 27 months for 57 and over.

In order to come into effect, the draft amendment to the unemployment agreement must still be approved by the governing bodies of these organizations, no later than March 23, and then transposed by legislative means.

The estimated savings are in the order of "500 million euros per year on average, or nearly 1 billion euros in cruising speed", said Sébastien Lecornu, welcoming "solid savings" and "real effects on employment".

For Jean-Pierre Farandou, "the social partners have fully met the roadmap that was proposed to them since they are even beyond the savings that were requested", which amounted to at least 400 million euros per year.

In a statement, the CGT denounced an agreement which "places the savings solely on employees who have experienced a negotiated termination and find themselves unemployed", without any new employer contribution.

"This will be a double penalty: job loss, most often a disguised dismissal, and a reduction in the duration of benefits," the union believes.

"As (this agreement) requires legislative changes, we will firmly discuss with parliamentarians, excluding the far right, to avoid cuts in rights," stressed CGT negotiator Denis Gravouil on Wednesday evening.

In a statement, the three employers' organizations said they reaffirmed through this draft agreement "their commitment to the joint management of Unédic", which manages the unemployment insurance scheme.

They point out that it "comes within a deteriorating financial context for Unédic, with nearly 61 billion euros of debt in 2026".

Beyond the measure to shorten the maximum duration of compensation after mutually agreed termination, the draft agreement requests that the State "cease all financial levies on the unemployment insurance scheme" and that the additional contribution from companies on mutually agreed terminations, integrated into the 2026 budget, be allocated to Unédic.