Unions are up against a new provision concerning unemployment insurance

These organizations, whose relations are already strained with the government before the presentation of the pension reform on January 10, are initially ulcerated by the method.

"It is not acceptable to make an announcement on December 23 without consultation. It is really in very bad taste", criticized Cyril Chabanier (CFTC) on Monday. "It's pure disloyalty", denounces Laurent Berger (CFDT). "A very bad Christmas present" for Denis Gravouil (CGT), "simply scandalous", according to Michel Beaugas (FO).

Object of this anger: the draft decree implementing the unemployment insurance reform, sent to the social partners on Friday afternoon.

As announced at the end of November, this text provides for a 25% reduction in the duration of compensation for all jobseekers who open rights from February 1 in mainland France.

For job seekers who will see their duration of compensation reduced, an "end of rights supplement" (an extension of the duration) is provided for in the event of a deterioration in the labor market, if unemployment exceeds 9% or it increased by 0,8 points or more over a quarter.

New fact in Friday's text, it is envisaged that the duration of compensation will be reduced by 40% and not 25%, when the unemployment rate drops below 6% (it is currently at 7,3%).

When presenting the reform to the press on November 21, the Minister of Labor Olivier Dussopt had mentioned the possibility of such a hardening but in the event of unemployment below "5%", i.e. the level at which we can speak of "full employment". .

The presentation sheet of the decree specifies that "the conditions of application of this provision are referred to a decree taken after consultation" with the social partners.

"Collective Punishment"

"Not only is it not fixed" but this decree would only be valid for 2023, defended Renaissance deputy Mathieu Lefèvre on RMC / BFMTV on Monday. And "there is little chance that in 2023 we will fall below 6% unemployment".

The social partners will in principle negotiate the next unemployment insurance agreement which will be in force from 2024. But the question of modulation according to the economic situation "will have to be integrated" into these discussions supervised by the government, Olivier has already underlined. Dussopt.

"The government preempts, for the future perhaps, a situation in which we will be in full employment", recognizes Mathieu Lefèvre.

On the merits, the deputy "fully assumes" the reduction in the duration of compensation because "sometimes there are people who refuse job offers, who evade, who do not show up". When it's hard to recruit, "it's not possible".

The government hopes for 100 to 150.000 additional job returns in 2023 thanks to the reform. These arguments are rejected by the unions.

"This drastic and unprecedented reduction in the rights of job seekers will only aggravate the difficulties encountered by these people", judges the CFDT. "The objective of full employment will go through intelligent solutions on the quality of employment and support".

"It is a question of considering that any unemployed person is somewhat their fault (...). It is an ideological position, of the order of collective punishment", denounces François Hommeril (CFE-CGC ).

The unions are all the more dissatisfied as Unédic has just drawn up an initial assessment of the previous unemployment insurance reform, launched in 2019 and fully entering into force at the end of 2021.

This reform notably tightened the conditions of compensation for job seekers, in particular those who alternate periods of work and inactivity. According to Unédic, it resulted in an average drop of 16% in daily allowances for the unemployed affected.