On 5 November the French prime minister’s office set out its timetable for pay talks in three sentences. The first two gave unions and employers a meeting on Monday and the labour minister a deadline of Sunday. In the third, the minister responsible for the civil service was simply continuing discussions. As soon as the government turned to wages it pays itself, the dates disappeared.[1][2]
The minister’s office had already heard the question. On 28 October the chief of staff met the CGT union’s public service representatives. In its account the following day, the union said it had called for an urgent increase in the frozen index point and an overhaul of pay scales. That gives the government plenty to answer. It can accept the demand or explain which part it considers too expensive.[3]
How would a higher index point change a civil servant’s pay?
Each step on the pay scale carries a number of index points. For someone paid on that scale, multiplying that number by the monthly value of one point gives gross monthly basic pay. France’s public information service gives the example of a civil servant on 572 points: €2,815.83 a month before deductions, excluding bonuses and allowances. The government that issues the payslip knows exactly which figure the union wants changed.[4]
A strike notice published on 27 October by the CGT branch for local government workers in Greater Poitiers went as far as naming a price: €6.50 a point, immediately. At that rate the same worker on 572 points would earn €3,718 in gross monthly basic pay, a difference of €902.17. The €6.50 demand appears in the Poitiers notice. In its account of the national meeting the next day, the CGT called for a rise and left the amount open.[5][4][3]
That difference deserves a budget debate. If the government thinks the bill is too high, let it publish a costing and say how much it will fund. If it favours a rise in stages, what would the first instalment be, and when would it start? Taxpayers could see the cost and staff could see how long they would have to wait. As long as the employer keeps its offer to itself, only one side is doing the sums.
When France is the employer, where is the deadline on pay?
The statement on 5 November offered a chance to answer. On 9 November the prime minister will bring workers’ and employers’ representatives together at Matignon to discuss pay and purchasing power. The labour minister has until Sunday 8 November to finish consultations already under way. For civil servants the statement says only that their minister is continuing discussions. That line could go into next month’s statement without changing a word.[1]
A separate negotiating table makes sense for public servants with their own pay scales. The state still has to speak at that table as their employer. In its account, the CGT expected the minister to bring the representative unions together once the bilateral meetings were over. The union could already describe the next step. Matignon’s statement could not even say when it would take place.[3][1]
On Monday the prime minister can ask the employers across the table what they intend to do about wages when prices rise. His own staff are entitled to put the same question back to him. Will the index point go up? If it does, which payslip will show the increase? For someone who lives on that pay, even a refusal with reasons would give the union more to argue about than another promise to keep talking.
On 10 November the minister for public accounts in charge of the civil service, David Amiel, met the CGT civil-service federation bilaterally: the union says it obtained no figure. It puts at 5.3% the increase in the index point needed to offset recent years’ losses, and maintains its call for a strike on 17 November. No announcement does not mean an explicit refusal: no written government position has been published.[6]