The Secretary General of the public sector union Forces ouvrières (FO), Christian Grolier, arrived in Paris on November 7, 2024 to participate in a meeting with the Minister of the Public Service, Guillaume Kasbarian. A social conflict in the public sector seems increasingly likely due to the government’s announcement of plans to address sick leave for civil servants. The unions had sent a joint letter to Guillaume Kasbarian on October 29 to request a meeting, which took place on November 7 for over two hours. However, the exchanges did not calm their anger, as several federations are already calling for strikes in the coming weeks.
During the meeting, tensions were high and the minister did not show any signs of backing down. He stated that the government intends to maintain amendments to the 2025 budget bill that aim to implement a three-day unpaid waiting period for sick leave – compared to one day currently – and limit the compensation to 90% of the employee’s salary when the leave extends beyond that period. These decisions, aimed at aligning the public sector with private sector rules, are expected to save 1.2 billion euros per year in the long term. The minister remained deaf to the arguments of the unions, asserting that the decisions were “difficult” but “necessary”.
The minister also confirmed that there would be no increase in the basic salary index in 2024 and that the individual guarantee of purchasing power – a mechanism that provides compensation to workers who have lost purchasing power in the past four years – would not be paid either. Despite these setbacks, there was some positive news for the unions as Guillaume Kasbarian announced the decision to abandon the abolition of the categories of civil servants (A, B, and C). This measure, a campaign promise of Emmanuel Macron in 2022, was part of the bill presented by the previous Minister of the Public Service, Stanislas Guerini. The successor stated that he did not want to proceed with this project.
Furthermore, the minister proposed to initiate consultations on three areas: the attractiveness of the public service and retention of employees, career management, and a plan to prevent and reduce absences. It remains unclear whether Guillaume Kasbarian intends to present a bill regardless or if he will resort to regulatory measures or decrees. He emphasized his desire to maintain constant and frank dialogue with the union organizations to make progress on essential issues for employees and the future of the public service. However, given the strained relations with the union representatives, the discussions ahead are expected to be challenging.
