Agirc-Arrco, Unedic: the boss of Medef is courteous but firm towards the government

Last week, the social partners concluded an agreement increasing the supplementary pensions paid by Agirc-Arrco to private sector retirees by 4,9%, refusing to organize a "financial pipeline" to the State which was demanding between 1 and 3 billion euros annually by 2030 to participate in the “return to balance” of the global system.

“I do not want to add fuel to the fire or adopt a political position,” assured Mr. Martin during a meeting with the Association of Social Information Journalists (AJIS) “but with a certain number of trade union organizations we wanted to show our attachment to the autonomy of the social partners".

“At Medef, we are convinced that our country needs intermediary bodies and social partners to avoid overconcentration of decisions and therefore risks on the executive alone,” he added.

He protested against the accusation made against the social partners of having "burned the fund" with the revaluation of 4,9%.

Noting that this rate included 0,3% of revaluation, he compared the remaining 4,6% with the revaluation of 5,2% of the basic system granted by the public authorities: this 0,6 point difference represents according to him, 600 million euros saved at Agirc-Arrco compared to the general regime.

Mr. Martin also expressed "regret" that no reduction in employee contributions appears in the agreement.

He also judged the probability of an agreement in the current negotiation of the Unedic convention to be "fairly low". Medef will “require” a reduction in employer contributions, to take into account surpluses largely due to the creation of two million jobs by companies in recent years. They “deserve a return on investment”, according to him.

Finally, questioned about the social conference which will be held on Monday at the request of Emmanuel Macron, he said he was opposed, to the point of leading a legal fight if necessary, to any conditionality of aid to businesses which could be decided there.

But according to him, "the Prime Minister's services are well aware of the legal and operational obstacles" that this measure would raise.

Finally, he deplored that the agenda covered certain subjects already present in other negotiations. He described this “blurring of the cards” as “disturbing”.