Budget plans in France | The rich are spared, and the masses are fleeced

How do you assess the main outlines of the 2026 state budget presented by Prime Minister François Bayrou ?

This was very unpopular with us; we weren't consulted. We were invited a week in advance, but nothing was announced about what the Prime Minister would then present. The social dialogue that is always being urged, and for which Germany is often held up as an example, looks different in our opinion. We felt duped. That's why we demonstratively didn't go to the Prime Minister's press conference, just like our sister unions, the CFDT and CGT. We won't be fooled, and we won't allow the government to pretend it's in dialogue with us.

How did you react to Bayrou's call to work more and be more productive?

When it comes to productivity, the experts' figures clearly contradict the Prime Minister's assessment. In this respect, French workers are clearly among the best in Europe. When he says that we don't work enough, one can even agree with him. More precisely: there aren't enough people who have jobs. For example, in our country, employees over the age of 55 are systematically pushed out of companies and replaced by younger, cheaper workers. The situation is similar for young people entering the workforce, for whom far too little is done. In our country, the proportion of people under the age of 25 who have a job is 27 percent lower than the European average. Seven million people are unemployed, but only 42 percent receive unemployment benefits because the others, due to previous precarious work, have not been able to pay in enough to acquire entitlements.

Why is the proportion of employees who receive only the statutory minimum wage – in France it is €1,426.30 net per month – the highest in Europe?

This is because the law stipulates that companies paying this SMIC, or up to 1.6 times it, have to pay little or no social security contributions. The aim was to encourage the creation of new jobs . In fact, this has made the abuse of the SMIC a permanent fixture. The unions are fighting against it, but so far in vain. But the biggest problem is not the SMIC, but the way in which the seven million unemployed are being blamed for the 390,000 vacant jobs, where the working hours, wages, and working conditions are so poor that no one can be persuaded to take them up.

The government aims to cut spending by at least €40 billion in 2026. But economists say the problem lies more with revenue. Where could more money be found?

We repeatedly observe that the government is reluctant to ask the relatively few super-rich French to pay, preferring to fleece the masses of low- and middle-income earners. The same applies to the hunt for small-time welfare fraudsters, while it is reluctant to investigate the big companies that engage in "tax optimization," which is actually tax fraud. The same applies to the €211 billion in financial aid for corporations for which they are never required to account. The same applies to the billions in state subsidies for research and development, which many companies also collect without doing any of it. For example, the pharmaceutical company Sanofi, which consists of little more than a mailbox at its Paris headquarters, receives €1.8 billion a year, while research has been outsourced to the USA for years , and development to India.

What do you say about abolishing public holidays for the benefit of public finances?

I am convinced that the two holidays are just a "game" and that the government will withdraw this idea again in order to pretend to be responding to criticism.

And what about the idea of financially compensating for the fifth week of vacation if desired?

That's impossible! It might be tempting for individual workers with very low incomes and very difficult financial circumstances to earn some extra money this way. But that would come at the expense of their health. The fifth week of vacation is a social achievement that we owe to left-wing President François Mitterrand and his government.

You met with your colleagues from the other major unions and discussed how you would respond. What was decided?

We want to consult our base and meet again on September 1st to decide on our joint counterattack. It will be commensurate with the force of the attack.

Doesn’t this also rule out the option of a general strike, which has not been used for many years?

Given the tense situation and mood, I wouldn't rule anything out.