Unions Seek Wage Rise

The leader of Frances largest union urged new Socialist Prime Minister Lionel Jospin yesterday to proceed cautiously with plans to reduce the working week and called for new talks on civil service pay rises.

Nicole Notat, who has engineered a more consensual strategy as the head of the traditionally Socialist-leaning CFDT union, told French radio civil service pay had been frozen for two years and it was time to reopen talks. She said such talks could include the issue of a shorter working week.

Communist-led CGT union leader Louis Viannet took a more radical position, demanding an immediate rise in the minimum wage and a halt to privatisations, adding that wage earners should not wait on the government to push for wage rises at company level.

 

Viannet told French radio the France Telecom stake sale plan drawn up by the former centre-right government should be halted and the matter reexamined.

Jospin plans to form a government this week following the Socialist-led victory in Sundays parliamentary election and then convene a national conference on jobs, work time and wages after promising to push for a 35 hour work week to help promote employment.

The legal working week is currently 39 hours. Jospin has set a goal of reaching a reduction in working hours over three years and put the emphasis on getting a negotiated solution between employers and trade unions. Its not the timing which is important. Its the guarantee that it will be useful and work out properly, Notat said.

There are two facets to reconcile, establishing a precise and unambiguous objective and ensuring that it is fastidiously prepared, she said, adding that Jospin should listen to what emerged from the national conference.

Since Lionel Jospin has promised a new governing style, I would find it hard to understand if he convened a conference without taking the time for a proper hearing of the social partners, she said.

This is an area in which I would really hope to see the new government taking the time to listen and evaluate without rushing into straight-jacket legislation, she said.

The reduction in working time is too important to take the risk of it not working out, she said.

She said it would be an error to throw out a law introduced last year that allows companies to apply for relief on payroll taxes when they draw up plans to protect jobs or to scale down layoffs.

Notat reiterated her support for the social security reforms which former prime minister Alain Juppes government started in 1995. Notats support for those reforms has left deep scars on inter-union relations as many CFDT members as well as other unions opposed them.

Notat said it was time to reopen civil service wage talks.

Things have fallen behind in this domain. Civil servants have had their purchasing power frozen for two years. This cannot go on for ever. Public service negotiations should be reopened, she said.

Outgoing civil service minister Dominique Perben angered unions earlier this year with a unilateral pay rise offer which failed to meet their demands for catch-up payments for the years in which wages were put on hold.