Social partners want to find an agreement on senior employment by March 26

After "a diagnosis phase" in January and "a block-by-block demand phase" in February, which will allow organizations to formulate their demands on the employment of seniors, retraining, professional attrition and the creation of a universal time savings account (Cetu), the text of an agreement should begin to be discussed at the end of February, beginning of March.

In total, 13 plenary sessions between delegations from the five unions and three employers' organizations, representative at the national level, are planned. The success of this negotiation depends on the government's approval of a new unemployment insurance agreement, negotiated in the fall.

“The trend is rather to say that there will be a single agreement text” on these different subjects rather than separate agreements, indicated CFDT negotiator Yvan Ricordeau. That of Medef, Hubert Mongon, confirmed this point.

“This is the best way to have a transposition consistent with what we have negotiated” because “this avoids opening too many angles of interference” from the executive, said Mr. Ricordeau, in reference to the government's commitment to translating into law a possible agreement between social partners.

For the CFDT negotiator, the subjects of the negotiation are linked together by the questions of "professional career" and "relationship to work".

Alongside the Personal Training Account (CPF) and work-study professional training, the CFDT wants in particular to establish a real “right to retraining”, specified the union negotiator.

In unison with the government's orientation document which frames the negotiations, Medef expressed its desire to find ways to increase the employment rate of seniors in France, which is one of the lowest in Europe. .

The “maintenance of our social system” as well as the “functioning of the French economy” depends on this question, underlined Hubert Mongon.

But for CFE-CGC negotiator Jean-François Foucard, “the employment rate of seniors is only a result of the work that has been done upstream” in the careers of employees. The executives' union is demanding in particular the establishment of "a skills diagnosis to be carried out automatically" for all employees between 45 and 50 years old.