EXCLUSIVE “Why the CFE-CGC will not participate in the launch of the CNR”

Do you plan to go to the meeting of the National Council for Refoundation on Thursday in Marcoussis?

No, I will not go. We had a long debate this Monday in the national office and after weighing the arguments for and against, he unanimously felt that there was no reason to endorse by our participation something that will even more disturb the balance and credibility of democratic institutions that this government and the previous one have already made a serious dent in.

I participated like the other union leaders in June at lunch where Emmanuel Macron explained to us that he had changed, had understood, presenting the creation of the National Council for Refoundation as an instrument at the service of this change of method after having confined the social partners for five years. Why not ? You always have to listen. We were ready to watch. In the letter he wrote to us, the Head of State proposes to “make a Nation”. It is up to the executive to lead by example. However, he has already made a mistake.

What do you think ?

Look what is happening on unemployment insurance. Emmanuel Macron says he has changed and at the same time the government is killing any possibility of real negotiation. He promises a pseudo consultation which everyone knows is only a smokescreen: he has already announced that he will back the compensation rules to the economic situation when he knows that all the unions are opposed to a counter-cyclical compensation which is no more effective than the degressive nature of the allowances. Especially when you know that half of the cost of compensation comes from temporary work and fixed-term contracts. The reality is that the executive gives guarantees to the Medef, which therefore has no interest in negotiating with the unions.

But you could also have gone to Marcoussis to say all this out loud to Emmanuel Macron… Your counterparts from the CFDT, the CFTC and the UNSA go there.

For me, this meeting is communication. It is an object in the hands of communicators. There are already forums in which a real quality dialogue can be organised. Normally, such an appointment requires preparation. We work upstream, we discuss, we share, we discuss a work schedule. It cannot be reduced to a debrief of a quarter of an hour a few days before the meeting and then during an intervention of 2 to 5 minutes no more for each participant after the Head of State and the experts. The mandate given to me by the activists of the CFE-CGC is not to sit wisely on a chair to hear mass once again.

Other confederations have chosen to participate in the CNR. We respect their decision. This is not the first time that in the trade union world there has been a difference of appreciation. And that does not prevent us from having joint battles: I refer you to the inter-union meeting in July where we agreed on a common text of very high quality and to that of Monday which will lead to another declaration on the unemployment insurance. The executive would do well to hear the discontent rising in the country, especially in management.