Unions to present joint demands for purchasing power ahead of parliamentary debate

Gathered at the headquarters of Force Ouvrière, the unions have agreed on the main lines of a common text which will be amended and finalized by Thursday, told AFP Marylise Léon, number two of the CFDT.

"We compared our proposals and we retained two or three key points for a common expression on purchasing power before the debate in the Assembly", which will begin on July 18 in the hemicycle, she indicated. "The idea is to send it to all parliamentarians," added Pascale Coton (CFTC).

Among these common demands, the unions should ask to condition exemptions from employer contributions to regular negotiations within the branches to have salary grids that do not start below the Smic.

According to the latest government tally, with successive increases in the minimum wage (October, January, May) due to inflation, 112 of the 171 branches with more than 5.000 employees have at least one wage coefficient below the minimum wage.

“We are going to recall the responsibility of employers in terms of career development and wages because it is not normal for employees to stay on the minimum wage all their lives,” added Ms. Léon.

"We want pay rises, not cheques," Cotton said.

According to another participant, trade unions should also express their opposition to overtime being exempt from social security contributions.

"We want to show that alongside the + brothel + politics, there is a pole of union stability", underlined this participant at the end of this second meeting devoted to purchasing power.

Other meetings are planned on other themes for the start of the school year, the first at the CFDT on September 5th.

On the other hand, the text will not refer to the call of the CGT and Solidaires for "a day of interprofessional strike" on September 29 to demand wage increases.