Increase remuneration, distribute bonuses or play on investment… To respond to inflation, many companies support the purchasing power of their employees. Those who do not have been strongly encouraged to do so by the Minister for the Economy, who has repeatedly asked them to ” make a gesture “and face growing wage disputes.
Walkout movements have been organized since September 15 in several Stellantis factories in the north of the country in order to demand wage increases. The CGT has called for a strike on all production sites. A meeting between the management of the automotive group and the unions to discuss a possible bonus must take place on September 27.
Strikes at Carrefour and ExxonMobil
In Carrefour, the majority union Force Ouvrière (FO) called for a mobilization on Friday 23 and Saturday 24 September. The mandatory annual negotiations were completed in mid-September with a proposal for a 2% salary increase from the management of the retail giant. Deeming it insufficient, FO had demanded the reopening of negotiations. Several warehouses have already been blocked since, and at least one still is.
Since September 20, a strike has been taking place at ExxonMobil. The employees of the company, which has 1,900, are asking for a salary increase to meet the increase in the cost of living.
Negotiation sessions
Before being confronted with these strike movements, certain companies took measures to support the purchasing power of their employees. In mid-September, Air France announced a 5% salary increase for all its employees and a bonus of €1,000. At the same time, Bouygues communicated its revaluation plan which will concern almost all of the group’s 70,000 employees. The increase would be around 6% for the lowest salaries.
At Renault, the negotiation sessions are still in progress. On September 22, the group offered its employees in France bonuses exceeding €1,000 for the majority of them. At the end of negotiations carried out for several weeks between unions and management, the latter had offered a €500 bonus to all employees. Added to this was the possibility of monetizing up to three days of RTT with a 25% increase, a transport bonus of €100 and free health insurance for three months.
France industrie, which represents companies in the industry, estimates around 6% of the increases distributed at the end of the year in the sector, i.e. the level of inflation according to INSEE (National Institute of Statistics and economic studies) over one year.