Wages at the heart of the social conference

Until the last moment, the government considered canceling it... Finally, the first social conference of the Macron era will take place this Monday. Even if the events in the Middle East and then the attack in Arras have shaken up the government's agenda and the concerns of the French, until then focused on the loss of their purchasing power whittled away by a waltz of labels which does not seem want to stop.

After an exchange with the social partners and the Head of State, the Prime Minister chose to maintain the initial timetable. “We cannot give in or put the country at a standstill in the face of terrorism,” explained Élisabeth Borne to La Tribune Dimanche. Seven trade union organizations (CFDT, CGT, FO, CFTC, CFE-CGC, Solidaires and Unsa) and three employers (Medef, U2P, CPME) are meeting this Monday at the Economic, Social and Environmental Council (Cese) in Paris. This meeting has been eagerly awaited by everyone since it was announced, by surprise, at the end of August, by the President of the Republic himself during the Saint-Denis Meetings. The subject of low wages, which must occupy the heart of today's discussions, has risen to the forefront of the social agenda.

Particularly in the sights of the unions, the professional branches whose salary scale permanently includes one or more steps below the minimum wage. A phenomenon which has intensified in recent months with the surge in inflation and therefore the minimum wage which is indexed to it. “It has increased seven times since January 1, 2021, for a total increase of 13.5%,” recalls Gilbert Cet, professor of economics at Neoma. As a result, many levels of remuneration, yesterday slightly above this legal floor, are today below it. In fact, this does not mean that employees earn less than the minimum wage. Their remuneration is, in any case, equal to the legal minimum. The problem comes from the effect of discouragement and downgrading caused by this decline at the bottom of the salary scale. When several levels find themselves at the minimum wage or close to this threshold, employees who move up a level see their remuneration stagnate.

Regular updates are therefore necessary. Since August 2022, branches have up to 45 days to revalue their minimums, compared to 90 until then. While many of them play the game, some are less willing. On September 22, at a press conference, the number one of the CFDT, Marylise Léon, did not hesitate to cite someone, such as rubber “where there has been no modification since 1984”, or pharmaceutical laboratories “which always have eight coefficients lower than the minimum wage”, she criticizes.

To encourage companies to be more voluntary on the subject, the inter-union is calling on the government to draw a new weapon: the conditioning of exemptions from social charges. Concretely, only employers who have updated the grid could be entitled to it. The very concept is inconceivable for employers. The president of Medef, Patrick Martin, said he was “frontally opposed” to this idea during an Ajis meeting last Tuesday. “Companies played the game last year,” agrees François Asselin, president of the employers’ union for small and medium-sized enterprises (CPME), interviewed on BFM. He nevertheless shares the unions' concerns about the settling of the grids. “The real question is not so much the percentage that we are going to put on a salary or not. The real question is […] that in France, with 1,383 euros per month net […], it’s complicated to live. And when you stay at this salary level for ten years, you have no prospects and it’s hopeless,” he laments.

The two camps back to back, so all eyes are on the government. Until now, the latter has categorically rejected the idea of ​​conditioning aid. But in recent days, the tone has started to change, assure several union leaders, at the end of their interviews in Matignon. “There was no statement that it was not possible,” raises Frédéric Souillot, number one at FO. “We feel that the door is open”, we assure in the same way in the entourage of the president of the CFE-CGC, François Hommeril.

Those around the Prime Minister confirm that “this is a subject that will be discussed tomorrow” and that “nothing is closed to move towards a more restrictive framework (for businesses, Editor’s note)”.

Otherwise, the disappointment would be great for the employee representatives. This file being the last likely to satisfy the inter-union after the government excluded other requests such as that of indexing all salaries to inflation.

Aware of the expectations, Élisabeth Borne was keen to point out that the executive was not out to “force employers” to increase salaries, but rather to “encourage, encourage, follow progress”. All this while giving certain guarantees to the unions, such as the creation of a High Remuneration Council which will be responsible for looking into the question of low-wage traps and proposing answers.

Likewise, faced with the request from central offices to work on the issue of gender pay inequalities, a workshop on the subject was added to the day's program. Élisabeth Borne also suggests that the social partners launch a consultation to review the Pénicaud index on the subject, which she herself considers “perfectible”. At the same time, “there will be other additional announcements at the end of the day,” we warn Matignon, without giving further details. They are expected: “The social conference will only be a success if it leads to concrete results,” warned Sophie Binet, general secretary of the CGT.