Social partners start negotiations on the employment of the elderly

Eight months after pension reform was announced, it’s time to help workers stay on the job longer. On Friday, December 22, trade unions and employers began negotiations aimed at a “The New Deal of Life at Work”. Proposed in mid-April by Emmanuel Macron, hoping to get out of the crisis linked to the postponement of the legal retirement age, this social dialogue training is structured around three axes: employment of the elderly, vocational training and prevention of work capacity, creation. Universal Time Savings Account (CETU) – a campaign promise by the Head of State that aims to offer career breathing time.

The first meeting, on Friday at Medef’s headquarters in Paris, was intended to develop a schedule and method. Substantive discussions will not begin until January 2024. Employer and employee organizations will have a relatively free hand since “Guidance Document” Sent by the Ministry of Labor on November 21 to guide the discussions, it turns out that it is not very typical of most of the topics discussed. But the significant commitment still raises limits: if the social partners find a compromise at the end of the negotiations, the measures taken must not worsen public finances.

The government’s road map reflects very high ambitions. Main goal: achievement “Full employment of adults”The employment rate for people aged 60 to 64 is 65% in 2030, compared to just 36.2% in 2022. “I hope we can discuss the matter more broadly”Confides Michel Bogas, FO’s Confederate Secretary: For him, thinking about career extension means taking an interest in the fate of workers before they approach 60.

Several levers can be activated: promoting access to training, improving working conditions, adjusting the end of career paths, better combating age-related stereotypes and discrimination. “There won’t be one miracle solution, warns Olivier Guivarchi, CFDT National Secretary. We’ll need to find a cocktail of devices by scanning lots of subjects. »

“Paradigm Shift”

Employers know what to expect because “If he doesn’t play, nothing will happen”As summarized by Eric Kurpotin, CFTC’s Federal Secretary. At this point, Medeff is barely revealing itself, leaving aside the principled positions of its president, Patrick Martin, who has repeatedly said that employers will do everything they can to retain aging employees.