A smaller-than-expected reduction in the number of bodies, previous practices sometimes maintained
The civil service is no exception to the decline in the number of members nor to the union fragmentation that characterise trade unionism in France. However, the trade unions still have a significant capacity to mobilise and a high level of representation. Membership rates are declining and are lower than in other countries, but remain higher than in the private sector. For the State civil service alone, the number of social dialogue bodies fell from more than 5,000 in 2019 to around 4,000 in 2023. For the three ministries representing 60 % of the State's workforce, the number of joint administrative committees (CAP) has fallen significantly: the sharpest decline has been in the economic and financial ministries, where the number of national and local CAPs fell from 519 to 18 over the same period. On the other hand, a large number of specialised bodies have been set up, for example in the financial ministries, where the number is higher than it was before 2019. Within the local civil service (FPT), the impact of the reform was only really significant for the larger local authorities, especially as the legal obligation to hold at least two CAP meetings a year sometimes offset the expected reduction. Overall, the new map of social dialogue bodies remains complex. The objective of reducing the number of CAPs has been achieved. On the other hand, the simplification of specialist bodies remains largely unfinished.
The resources allocated to social dialogue are complex and estimated at €874 million
The impact study on the law on the transformation of the civil service estimated that the implementation of the law should result in budget savings due, on the one hand, to the reduction in preparation time, the number of meetings and the time spent in CAPs, for both staff representatives and HR managers and, on the other hand, to the reduction in the number of CAPs. The review brought to light a number of exceptional practices that run counter to the objective of budgetary savings set out in the impact study for the law on the transformation of the civil service. Implemented in some cases without any legal basis, a number of measures constitute irregular expenditure which adds to the cost of social dialogue. Staff representatives are granted privileges (secondment, special leave of absence, time off work) to enable them to fulfil the obligations arising from their mandate. A 2010 report by the general inspectorates on the resources allocated to trade unions in the civil service already identified shortcomings in the monitoring of trade union leave for the three branches of the civil service. It found that they were not always accounted for. This investigation shows that, more than ten years later, these long-standing observations hold true. The cost per public sector employee would be €154. It would now be appropriate to put an end to exceptional practices affecting the exercise of trade union rights. The Court has attempted to establish an estimate of the cost of social dialogue, based in part on extrapolations made from existing data that it has validated. This shows that in 2022, the resources deployed by employers in the three branches of the civil service to promote social dialogue, involving 5.2 million employees, cost almost €874 million, or 0.27 % of the total public wage bill.
Conditions for a renewed social dialogue
The social dialogue reform introduced by the 2019 law aims to give priority to union negotiations on collective and strategic aspects of employees' working lives. To encourage the conclusion of negotiated agreements, particularly at local level, employers and trade union organisations may conclude framework agreements and methodology agreements, at local or national level, since the order of 17 February 2021 on collective bargaining and agreements in the civil service. Only around 200 collective agreements had been signed in the three branches of the civil service at the start of 2024. However, all parties are in favour of giving concrete form to social dialogue through collective bargaining. A number of conditions need to be met for this transformation to become a reality. Once the new bodies provided for in the law on the transformation of the civil service have been established, an effort to reflect on the missions of the human resources departments and services must be undertaken in order to refocus their activities: for example, defining demanding management guidelines and engaging in collective bargaining. If the public authorities wish to encourage the development of collective bargaining within the civil service, the rights and resources of those involved in social dialogue need to be clarified.
