5TH EDITION
INTERNATIONAL
& COMPARATIVE
EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS
Globalisation and change
Edited by Greg J Bamber,
Russell D Lansbury and Nick Wailes
CHAPTER 7
Employment Relations in France
Janine Goetschy and Annette Jobert
© Allen & Unwin, 2011. These slides are support material for International and Comparative Employment Relations 5th edition. Lecturers using the
book as a set text may freely use these slides in class, and may distribute them to students in their course only. These slides may not be posted on
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International & Comparative
Employment Relations 5th edition
Edited by Greg J Bamber,
Russell D Lansbury & Nick Wailes
Lecture outline
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•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Key themes
Context
Unions and membership trends
Changing representative status of unions
Employers
The state
Employee voice
Collective bargaining
Industrial disputes
Conclusions
Chapter 7:
2 France
Copyright Allen & Unwin, 2011
International & Comparative
Employment Relations 5th edition
Edited by Greg J Bamber,
Russell D Lansbury & Nick Wailes
Key themes
• Features of contemporary French unions reflect the historical presence of
anarchists and revolutionary socialists within the labour movement and
the traditionally paternalistic and reactionary approaches of employers
• The industrial relations system is fragmented and adversarial due to lack
of mutual recognition between the social partners
• The state plays a strong interventionist role and there is a multi-faceted
system of employee representation within organisations
• Union movement is divided along ideological lines and suffers from
continuing low membership. In contrast, employers are united and have
high membership
• There has been a trend towards decentralisation of employment relations
(and towards enterprise-level bargaining) since the early 1980s, but
collective bargaining still occurs at industry and national level and
coverage is high
• The number of strikes is declining, and most occur in the public sector and
are short in duration
Chapter 7:
3 France
Copyright Allen & Unwin, 2011
International & Comparative
Employment Relations 5th edition
Edited by Greg J Bamber,
Russell D Lansbury & Nick Wailes
French employment relations context
• France is the world’s sixth largest economic power in terms of
GDP
• It has a population of approximately 63.8 million with a labour
market participation rate of 63%
• Female employment is increasing (58% in 2006), but employment
amongst young people (15-24 years) is falling (29% in 2006),
largely due to rising school retention
• There has been low economic growth in recent decades despite
there being no severe recessions
• High unemployment since the 1980s has resulted in governmentrun employment and training schemes
• Since the 1970s, forms of employment have changed in line with
international trends, for example, growing temporary and parttime employment
Chapter 7:
4 France
Copyright Allen & Unwin, 2011
International & Comparative
Employment Relations 5th edition
Edited by Greg J Bamber,
Russell D Lansbury & Nick Wailes
The IR parties: historical context
• Industrialisation and urbanisation occurred during the midnineteenth century
• Strikes were permitted in 1864 but it was still illegal to form
unions
• Many informal unions were organised at the local level at this
time, and unions became legal in 1884
• The prominence of anarchists and revolutionary socialists
within the French labour movement, combined with the often
paternalistic attitudes of employers, has heavily influenced
the development of French employment relations and
explains the lack of mutual recognition between the IR parties
• The state has played interventionist role
Chapter 7:
5 France
Copyright Allen & Unwin, 2011
International & Comparative
Employment Relations 5th edition
Edited by Greg J Bamber,
Russell D Lansbury & Nick Wailes
The French union movement
•
•
•
The French union movement is characterised by
pluralism, rivalry and fragmentation, as well as the
scarcity of financial and organisational resources
Union membership has been declining for decades
(23% in mid-1970s and less than 8% in 2007)
The five national union confederations are split along
ideological and religious lines:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
La confédération générale du travail (CGT)
La confédération française démocratique du travail (CFDT)
La force ouvrière (FO)
La confédération française des travailleurs chrétiens (CFTC)
La confédération française de l’encadrement-confédération
générale des cadres (CFE-CGC)
Chapter 7:
6 France
Copyright Allen & Unwin, 2011
International & Comparative
Employment Relations 5th edition
Edited by Greg J Bamber,
Russell D Lansbury & Nick Wailes
French union confederations
• In 1966, the five French union confederations were
granted the status of ‘representative unions’ by public
authorities on the basis of five criteria, the most
important one being independence from employers
• This identity confers exclusive rights such as
– the nomination of candidates in the system of employee
representation within the firm
– representation on governmental and other consultative
bodies, and
– collective bargaining
• These rights are not dependent on actual union
presence within firms
•Chapter
This
system remained unchanged until 2008
7:
7 France
Copyright Allen & Unwin, 2011
International & Comparative
Employment Relations 5th edition
Edited by Greg J Bamber,
Russell D Lansbury & Nick Wailes
Other unions
• A looser group of unions called the ‘group of ten’ was
formed in 1981 comprising the ten autonomous
unions in the public sector
• They originally had a corporatist orientation but
adopted a more left-wing agenda when joined by
group of postal and telecommunication unions. The
group became Union Syndicale Solidaire (USS)
• There are several other ‘autonomous’ sector-specific
unions (e.g. traffic controllers, journalists). They have
no affiliation with the larger groups, which are have
legal representative status
Chapter 7:
8 France
Copyright Allen & Unwin, 2011
International & Comparative
Employment Relations 5th edition
Edited by Greg J Bamber,
Russell D Lansbury & Nick Wailes
Explaining the decline in union membership 1
• There is scepticism among younger workers as to the
purpose and value of union membership, due to the
restructuring of the French economy, high
unemployment levels and the increased flexibility of
labour contracts
• Other reasons suggested for decline in membership
include
– employers’ preference for direct dialogue with employees
– inadequate union responses to new challenges
– gap between union leaders and rank-and-file membership,
and
– union fragmentation and rivalry
Chapter 7:
9 France
Copyright Allen & Unwin, 2011
International & Comparative
Employment Relations 5th edition
Edited by Greg J Bamber,
Russell D Lansbury & Nick Wailes
Explaining the decline in union membership 2
• Broader support for the union movement has declined for
following reasons:
1. Closed shop practices have been prohibited
2. French unions traditionally favoured ‘militancy’ (fostering strikes and
supporting political action) rather than recruiting a stable mass
membership, becoming bureaucracies, and engaging in collective
bargaining
3. All wage earners benefit from union wins, even if not they are not
union members
4. No specific welfare benefits accrue to French union members as
they do in other countries
5. Employers often oppose any extension of union influence, however
this practice has slowly changed over time
6. The fragmentation of unions on ideological and political grounds
hampered recruitment and retention of members
Chapter 7:
10 France
Copyright Allen & Unwin, 2011
International & Comparative
Employment Relations 5th edition
Edited by Greg J Bamber,
Russell D Lansbury & Nick Wailes
Explaining the decline in union membership 3
• Unions do have more political and industrial
influence than their low membership implies,
e.g. in collective bargaining and in
representative elections, public tripartite or
bipartite institutions
• The recent increase in membership of CGT
and CFDT is associated with the strategic
rapprochement between the two
confederations
Chapter 7:
11 France
Copyright Allen & Unwin, 2011
International & Comparative
Employment Relations 5th edition
Edited by Greg J Bamber,
Russell D Lansbury & Nick Wailes
Changes in the representative status of unions 1
• The ‘representative status’ of unions has been subject
to debate since 1998 when the ‘Aubry Law’ introduced
the 35-hour working week
• This law required unions to obtain a majority of votes at
works council elections or to be ratified by employees
through a referendum in order to benefit from state
support
• This was a major departure from the tradition whereby
a collective agreement was valid if a union had
‘representative status’, even if the union only
represented a minority of the workforce
Chapter 7:
12 France
Copyright Allen & Unwin, 2011
International & Comparative
Employment Relations 5th edition
Edited by Greg J Bamber,
Russell D Lansbury & Nick Wailes
Changes in the representative status of unions 2
• In 2008, the five union confederations and three employer
confederations reached a ‘joint position’ concerning ‘union
representation, the development of social dialogue and the
financing of unions’
• Based on this, the criteria for determining union representation
changed. Now a union must obtain at both plant and company
level a minimum of 10% of votes at the first ballot to achieve
representative status. Once it has this status it can negotiate with
employers
• Through the changes, unions are seeking to become closer to
wage earners and to renew dynamics of social dialogue
• The new rules could foster a different process of union
reconfiguration and alliances, e.g. small unions will have to merge
or set up alliances to survive
Chapter 7:
13 France
Copyright Allen & Unwin, 2011
International & Comparative
Employment Relations 5th edition
Edited by Greg J Bamber,
Russell D Lansbury & Nick Wailes
The employers
• In contrast to plurality of union confederations, employers
have been united in their National Confederation, the Conseil
national du patronat française (CNPF), now the Mouvement
des enterprises de France (MEDEF)
• Nevertheless there are 2 smaller employer organisations, the
Confédération générale des petites et moyennes enterprises
(CGPME) and the Union professionnelle artisanale (UPA)
• MEDEF represents more than three quarters of all French
enterprises, however members differ in their size, interests,
diversity of capital ownership and management origins
• MEDEF negotiates on broad issues with unions but wages and
work hours are excluded from these negotiations, with rates
of pay being determined at the industry level
Chapter 7:
14 France
Copyright Allen & Unwin, 2011
International & Comparative
Employment Relations 5th edition
Edited by Greg J Bamber,
Russell D Lansbury & Nick Wailes
Changes in employer strategy
• Changes to employers’ strategy since the post-1973 economic
crisis include pursuing greater flexibility of labour contracts
including flexible work hours
• Employers fiercely opposed the adoption of the Aubry law,
which introduced the 35-hour working week in 1998, and the
state’s increasing involvement in social protection agencies
which are jointly managed by unions and employers
• In the 2000s, MEDEF negotiated issues of labour relations
reform with unions, including unemployment insurance, OHS,
collective bargaining and lifelong training
• The first female president of the MEDEF was elected in 2005,
and is more open to dialogue with unions than her
predecessors
Chapter 7:
15 France
Copyright Allen & Unwin, 2011
International & Comparative
Employment Relations 5th edition
Edited by Greg J Bamber,
Russell D Lansbury & Nick Wailes
The role of the state 1
• State intervention is important in French employment relations,
reflecting the traditional reluctance of unions and employers to
use voluntary collective agreements. Instead, unions have
pressed for legislation when the left was in ascendancy
• Since the late 1960s, there has been a close link between the
formulation of industrial law and outcomes of collective
bargaining. Industrial laws are often based on the content of
collective agreements or the outcomes of tripartite discussions
• The state is also a major employer (approx. 5 million public
service employees) and as such exerts influence on private
sector pay rates
• The state also legislates increases in the national minimum wage
(Salarie Minimum Interprofessional de Croissance (SMIC))
Chapter 7:
16 France
Copyright Allen & Unwin, 2011
International & Comparative
Employment Relations 5th edition
Edited by Greg J Bamber,
Russell D Lansbury & Nick Wailes
The role of the state 2
• From the 1980s, governments have taken a range of measures
to reduce unemployment, especially amongst the young and
the long-term unemployed
• Leftist Prime Minister Lionel Jospin (elected 1997) introduced
the ‘Jobs for Young People’ program and the 35-hour week
law ( the Aubry Law), aimed at creating jobs
• The Aubry Law gave a boost to collective bargaining at the
sectoral and enterprise levels, as it encouraged unions and
employers to negotiate agreements to maintain wages and
support recruitment
• In 2002, the right-wing Chirac government made the 35-hour
week law less constraining for small and medium-sized
enterprises
Chapter 7:
17 France
Copyright Allen & Unwin, 2011
International & Comparative
Employment Relations 5th edition
Edited by Greg J Bamber,
Russell D Lansbury & Nick Wailes
Employee representation within enterprises
• Successive French governments have established a range of
representative bodies at the enterprise level:
– Workplace delegates deal with individual employee grievances
– Works councils deal with workplace consultation
– Union branches and stewards represent their unions and participate in
collective bargaining at the workplace
• French workplace delegates are not union representatives, however
in practice a majority are elected on a union ‘platform’
• In addition, workplace union delegates are appointed by the local
union branch
• The representative institutions are not a coherent system but have
developed ad hoc over time and there is confusion over roles
• Unions are present in 38% per cent of private sector companies
with more than 20 employees
Chapter 7:
18 France
Copyright Allen & Unwin, 2011
International & Comparative
Employment Relations 5th edition
Edited by Greg J Bamber,
Russell D Lansbury & Nick Wailes
Works councils 1
• Works councils are required in all firms employing at least
50 employees and are composed of employee
representatives and employers, or employers’ deputies
• The employer chairs meetings which are held monthly. Each
representative union can appoint a union observer to the
council
• Councils have little real decision-making power except over
welfare issues
• Every three months French employers are required to
inform the works councils of the state of their companies:
orders, output and finances
• Employers must provide councils with a range of other
information about business activities
Chapter 7:
19 France
Copyright Allen & Unwin, 2011
International & Comparative
Employment Relations 5th edition
Edited by Greg J Bamber,
Russell D Lansbury & Nick Wailes
Works councils 2
• Works councils must be informed and consulted prior to
the implementation of large projects involving
technological change when there might be consequences
related to employment relations
• Works councils have information rights on redundancies
and are involved in the development of social plans that
emphasise redeployment as an alternative to redundancy
• Works councils are required to consider issues such as
profit-sharing arrangements and changes to working
hours, and agreement must be reached before
implementation
Chapter 7:
20 France
Copyright Allen & Unwin, 2011
International & Comparative
Employment Relations 5th edition
Edited by Greg J Bamber,
Russell D Lansbury & Nick Wailes
Developments in collective bargaining 1
• The hallmark of President Mitterand’s post-1981 reforms was the search
for a new balance between state intervention and collective bargaining
• The Employee Participation Act (1982) gave employees the right to
withdraw from dangerous working conditions, without stopping
workplace machinery, and gave priority to collective bargaining
• Later the Act gave employees the right to make decisions on the content
and organisation of their work and more generally on their working
conditions
• The Collective Bargaining Act (1982) contained innovations to the
French IR system, for example, in firms with established union branches
employers were obliged to annually negotiate pay and hours
• Since 2001, compulsory bargaining at plant level has been extended to
equal employment rights and sickness benefits, amongst other things
• However, there is no obligation to reach an agreement or bargain in
‘good faith’ and the employer’s decision is final
Chapter 7:
21 France
Copyright Allen & Unwin, 2011
International & Comparative
Employment Relations 5th edition
Edited by Greg J Bamber,
Russell D Lansbury & Nick Wailes
Developments in collective bargaining 2
• There are three collective bargaining levels: multi-industry, industry and
enterprise/plant
• Plant-level bargaining has greatly progressed since the beginning of the 1980s
and has gained autonomy vis-à-vis the law and industry-level bargaining
• However, 84% of plant level agreements are in companies with more than 50
employees, which excludes half of total wage earners who are employed in
small enterprises
• Hence, collective bargaining at the industry level remains important
• Industry-level agreements establish the basic labour relations rules for a given
industrial sector. Labour laws also impose regular bargaining on wages and job
classifications, equal opportunities and lifelong learning
• Multi-industry bargaining increased in importance during the 1990s. The aims
are to achieve agreement on matters such as unemployment benefits and
pensions
• Not all union confederations have supported multi-industry agreements
• Three major multi-industry agreements have been ratified since 2000
Chapter 7:
22 France
Copyright Allen & Unwin, 2011
International & Comparative
Employment Relations 5th edition
Edited by Greg J Bamber,
Russell D Lansbury & Nick Wailes
Social protection institutions
• In addition to the three collective bargaining arenas,
the IR system also includes national social-protection
institutions, some of which are jointly managed by the
employers’ associations and five representative unions
• These institutions include social security funds,
supplementary pension funds, unemployment
insurance and vocational training
• Since the 1980s, there have been serious problems in
all areas of the social welfare system, reflecting the
weakness and rivalry of unions as well as the social
partners’ inability to undertake reforms without state
intervention
Chapter 7:
23 France
Copyright Allen & Unwin, 2011
International & Comparative
Employment Relations 5th edition
Edited by Greg J Bamber,
Russell D Lansbury & Nick Wailes
Representative elections
• The unions have a much higher degree of support than might be inferred
from their low membership. Support for individual unions can be
measured by both their formal membership and from the results of
‘social’ elections, such as those for the representatives of works councils
and industrial tribunals
• Works councils election results for 2005-06 showed that in total the five
representative unions obtained nearly 69.2% of the votes and the
participation rate for works councils elections remains at more than 60%
• The industrial tribunal elections represent another indicator of union
support. The are composed of councillors from the firms and are
responsible for resolving individual grievances between employees and
employers. The councillors are elected by all employees and employers.
Here the CGT has remained the most supported confederation, but there
is a very high abstention rate in these elections, reaching 74% in 2008
Chapter 7:
24 France
Copyright Allen & Unwin, 2011
International & Comparative
Employment Relations 5th edition
Edited by Greg J Bamber,
Russell D Lansbury & Nick Wailes
Industrial disputes
• The right to strike is guaranteed by the French Constitution, with
qualifications
• Since 1963, public sector unions have been required to give 5
days notice before a strike. There is little regulation of strikes in
the private sector
• Legal striking is defined as a ‘stoppage of work’; sabotage,
working to rule or slowing production are unlawful
• Strikes must pertain to ‘industrial issues’; lock-outs are generally
illegal
• Constraints have been placed on public sector strike activity in
recent years which have been fiercely debated among unions
• There are elaborate procedures for the settlement of disputes
including conciliation, mediation and arbitration, despite little
legislation governing strikes
Chapter 7:
25 France
Copyright Allen & Unwin, 2011
International & Comparative
Employment Relations 5th edition
Edited by Greg J Bamber,
Russell D Lansbury & Nick Wailes
Trends in industrial disputes
• Industrial disputes tend to be short-lived, as French unions have few
financial reserves and generally do not grant strike pay
• France loses relatively few work days due to stoppages when compared
with Italy and many English-speaking countries
• Compared to the 1970s, there has been a significant decline in the
number of working days lost to strikes in the 1980s and 1990s (for both
private and publicly owned companies)
• It is difficult to accurately attribute causes of strikes, as many disputes
involve multiple issues. In 1998, a quarter of strikes were apparently
about working time issues, whereas wages and employment matters
apparently precipitated only half total strikes. By the mid 2000s, wages
claims were the major cause of strikes
• Whilst there has been a decline in traditional strikes, new forms of
conflicts have emerged such as work-to-rule and go-slow practices,
demonstrations and petitions, and, while not well recorded, they have
become significant features of recent industrial disputes
Chapter 7:
26 France
Copyright Allen & Unwin, 2011
International & Comparative
Employment Relations 5th edition
Edited by Greg J Bamber,
Russell D Lansbury & Nick Wailes
Conclusions
• There is continuing low union membership but there have been slight gains in
recent years
• Various factors have worked against unions, including industry restructuring,
expansion of the service sector, high unemployment, and the growth of
flexible labour contracts. In addition, fragmentation of the union movement
hampers its strength
• The influence of unions varies: unions are active and influential in large
companies but rarely present in small and medium enterprises where they
are largely opposed by employers. They are also more influential in the public
sector
• Unions nonetheless are politically powerful exerting pressure through strikes
– particularly in the public sector – as well as protests and political opposition
• The state maintains its prominent role in employment relations, most
recently illustrated by the 2008 Act on social democracy and working time
which maintains the 35 hour legal working week whilst allowing for some
enterprise level negotiation of this provision
© Allen & Unwin, 2011. These slides are support material for International and Comparative Employment Relations 5th edition. Lecturers using the
book as a set text may freely use these slides in class, and may distribute them to students in their course only. These slides may not be posted on
any university library sites, electronic learning platforms or other channels accessible to other courses, the university at large or the general public.