Pension reform, unemployment insurance... Olivier Dussopt “proud” of his record at the Ministry of Labor

Considered close to Élisabeth Borne, who like her came from the PS, Olivier Dussopt will have followed the trajectory of the former prime minister. Maybe a little too much for his taste. Entering rue de Grenelle just as the latter was taking Matignon, the Minister of Labor left the government at the same time as her. He is replaced in his position by the President of the Greater Reims Urban Community, Catherine Vautrin. “I am proud of what I did, under the authority of Elisabeth Borne with important and difficult reforms,” he tweeted this Friday.

His stay therefore lasted a little less than a year and eight months. A fairly short period of time, but sufficient to have brought about one of the most emblematic reforms of Emmanuel Macron's second five-year term: the raising of the retirement age to 64 years. The file was as much a sign of trust as it was a poisoned chalice. “I knew well that by carrying out this reform, I was not going to make only friends,” he euphemised at the beginning of January 2023. Anxious to disconnect the protest as much as possible, the minister embarked on a major consultation with the social partners during the development of the text, at the end of 2022. Or rather, he tasked his cabinet with leading the discussions. “We didn’t see him much at that time,” recalls an employer source. Never far from her old files, Élisabeth Borne - Minister of Labor between July 2020 and May 2022 - regains control of the negotiations in mid-December. A first snub for the minister.

During the first four months of 2023, the unions in the streets and the opposition in the chamber of the National Assembly will make life hell for Olivier Dussopt. The left-wing oppositions do not forgive this veteran of the house for defending a reduction in the starting age. The presentation of the text to the lower house in mid-February, following an accelerated procedure, thus saw the first and to date the last public loss of composure of a man who nevertheless still maintains restraint. In front of the Nupes deputies who stood up and left the room singing “we are here”, Olivier Dussopt, red with anger, shouted at them: “you insulted me for 15 days, no one broke down and we are here, in front of you, for reform.”

To make matters worse, the LR group, natural allies on the text, will have continued to give the government a hard time. Unable to follow the instructions given with discipline, they will have forced Olivier Dussopt and Élisabeth Borne to multiply the concessions to finally force the latter to draw a 49.3 to have the text adopted.

In parallel with the legislative process, the tenant of rue Grenelle became one of the favorite targets of the demonstrations, of which several hundred thousand according to the police, or several million according to the CGT, took to the streets fourteen times between January 19 and June 6. Faced with the well-rehearsed speech of the unions united for the occasion, the executive is struggling to find a convincing response. Anxious to show that the reform will also create winners, Olivier Dussopt announced in mid-February that 40,000 retirees should see their pensions increase to 1,200 euros. Unconvinced, PS deputy Jérôme Guedj discovers that in fact the number of beneficiaries should be four times lower.

Emerging from this period, Olivier Dussopt, still hand in hand with Élisabeth Borne, is responsible for relaunching the dialogue with the social partners during the summer. The first weeks give reason for hope. As promised, the Minister of Labor faithfully voted for an agreement reached by the social partners on value sharing. Alas, heated confrontations over supplementary pension money and unemployment insurance will shatter this meager progress.

Anxious to relaunch consultation once again, while negotiations on career paths and the employment of seniors are looming, the Head of State finally considered that a change of face was necessary. A way also to avoid any unpleasant surprises while the former Minister of Labor awaits the verdict of a trial for favoritism on January 17.