We imagine it heavy, armored and not easily manipulated. Ajar, it would reveal a large room, with, in the center, a table adorned with nominees, microphones and plastic water bottles. It is the door to the negotiations, that of the disputed pension reform, the text of which is currently being examined in the Senate.
According to Olivier Véran, this famous door “is more than open to the unions which for a certain number of weeks have not actually crossed it”. At the microphone of RTL Wednesday morning, the government spokesperson claims to be “in dialogue”, while the trade unions ask to be received “urgently” by Emmanuel Macron.
The executive “shows openness”
But, after several months of united trade union protest and an eventful passage of the text in the National Assembly, can the hypothesis of a way out of the crisis through dialogue be seriously considered? Or is it just a rhetorical question, like when your manager says he’s ready to talk, but never makes himself available?
On the majority side, we do not budge: yes, dialogue with the unions is possible, moreover, it always has been. “The thread has never been broken. The Minister of Labor is constantly discussing with the social partners, the Prime Minister too, this dialogue must continue. We are not in a logic of trap. The executive is open. We can dialogue even if we don’t agree. It is important to say it again today, ”supports Mathieu Lefèvre, Renaissance deputy for Val-de-Marne.
This sentence, “a political technique to have the good role”
An exit of the majority which seems far from the account to bring the union representatives to the negotiating table. This sentence, “it’s a political technique to have the good role. There, a text is imposed, and then we are asked to come and discuss, it’s a bit strong coffee. The executive wants to try to change public opinion, which is mostly against this reform. The situation should not be reversed. It is he who attacks the French employees. It’s a technique to try to make us take the blame, ”says Jean-Christophe Delprat, federal secretary at FO transport and logistics, in charge of the RATP sector.
And, if, by communicating in this way, Olivier Véran had not put on an N + 1 cap, the government playing the role of the employer facing the employees. “In business, it would look like a managerial technique, that of making employees active. We assume that they can be actors. For example, go ask his manager to ask for a change, rather than waiting. Sometimes HR calls it the collaborator (mix of collaborator and actor). But, for it to work, the context must be calm”, analyzes Séverine Loureiro, speaker and responsible for “collaborator experience” in a banking group.
words and deeds
And, precisely, the context does not seem to lend itself to social dialogue in this large company called France. “The prerequisite is that the company must put in place the conditions for dialogue. If you are in a context where it is difficult to access your manager, where it is tense with your hierarchy, if the conditions of accessibility and trust are not guaranteed, it is very difficult for an employee of to be an actor. In a tense situation, this can be seen as a provocation. The best way to unblock the negotiation is not to announce it, it’s to make an appointment directly with the employee”, specifies our analyst.
“For the door to be really open, it must be shown by actions, behaviors, real listening, even if the decision does not go in the direction of the person in the end”, indicates Carole Méziat, founder of the site of professional coaching We are not robots.
Last June, Emmanuel Macron received the main union representatives for lunch, with the exception of the general secretary of the CGT Philippe Martinez, who declined the invitation. This Wednesday, Olivier Véran announced the executive’s desire to “receive the social partners (…) to continue to work on important texts”. Words, and soon actions? Answer in front of the Elysée coffee machine.