The creation of the social and economic works council in France: the brutal end to a complex experiment
Freyssinet, Jacques
The creation of the social and economic works council in France: the brutal end to a complex experiment - 2024.
84
On 22 September 2017, a government ordinance merged the three elected employee representative bodies that previously coexisted within French companies. These bodies had emerged over time through a series of historical battles and French unions were strongly attached to them. In 2014, however, employers launched an offensive against them during negotiations that ended in failure. During this period, the debate was sustained by the publication of official reports which, overwhelmingly, advocated mergers of varying scope. For a significant period, the recommendations of these reports were not pursued or only led to minor reforms. As a result of the failure of negotiations to lead to major reform and the reduced impact of partial reforms up until 2017, French public authorities opted for a radical solution that was imposed and whose consequences have proven to be quite dramatic. The reform that was adopted amounts to a reduction in obligations and costs for companies and resources for elected staff – essentially a form of rationalization. In so doing, it ignores essential issues central to the dynamics of employee representation in firms.
The creation of the social and economic works council in France: the brutal end to a complex experiment - 2024.
84
On 22 September 2017, a government ordinance merged the three elected employee representative bodies that previously coexisted within French companies. These bodies had emerged over time through a series of historical battles and French unions were strongly attached to them. In 2014, however, employers launched an offensive against them during negotiations that ended in failure. During this period, the debate was sustained by the publication of official reports which, overwhelmingly, advocated mergers of varying scope. For a significant period, the recommendations of these reports were not pursued or only led to minor reforms. As a result of the failure of negotiations to lead to major reform and the reduced impact of partial reforms up until 2017, French public authorities opted for a radical solution that was imposed and whose consequences have proven to be quite dramatic. The reform that was adopted amounts to a reduction in obligations and costs for companies and resources for elected staff – essentially a form of rationalization. In so doing, it ignores essential issues central to the dynamics of employee representation in firms.
Réseaux sociaux