by Paula Määttä

V. France

E. The role of the social partners

1. Collective bargaining

France has a weak and uneven collective bargaining system, with a general minimum wage. France has an industry level bargaining system with enterprise level bargaining. Collective bargaining covers over 90 per cent of all employees. Significant excluded areas or groups are hotel and catering. (Rubery & Fagan 1995, 41.)

France is also notable for having some industry level minimum rates that are below the national minimum wage. Many women are employed in industries where the only effective element of regulation is the national minimum wage as the collectively-agreed rates fall persistently below this level. (Rubery & Fagan 1995, 15.)

2. Trade unions and women

The Act of 1983 provides that a collective agreement, collective arrangement or contract of employment is null and void if it contains a clause restricting the benefit of a certain measure to a worker on the basis of sex. This Act gives the social partners a dominant role in implementing the principle of equality. Collective bargaining at both sectoral and enterprise levels is the forum in which the workers and employers organizations can take the initiative and deal with this principle. There is no legal obligation on the social partners to take any concrete measures in respect of equal pay.

Employers are obliged to negotiate wages on an annual basis, both at the enterprise and sectoral levels, and to examine wage trends by sex. Within the framework of the annual wage negotiations, the employer must supply the bargaining parties with the necessary information to conduct a comparative analysis of the situation of men and women in respect of jobs and qualifications, wages and actual hours worked. At the enterprise level, unions have also negotiated positive or affirmative action programmes which aim at identifying and eliminating patterns of discrimination in remuneration. They are not obliged to come to any kind of agreement on this subject. In conjunction with the 1983 Act, the Government made financial resources available to assist with such programmes. The Central Collective Agreements Committee is responsible for examining collective agreements for compliance with the principle of equal pay. (Pettiti 1993, 86, 92.)

All collective agreements signed in 1992 included provisions on occupational equality in general. Out of 18 new or updated agreements, 13 contained clauses on equal remuneration. Moreover, certain collective agreements required an annual report on the comparative status of men and women, with particular regard to wages, and the adoption of adjustment measures where inequalities are recorded.

Trade unions have womens departments which examine the obstacles encountered by women in obtaining equal treatment in trade union affairs and frame policies to promote equality. They organise special womens conferences and meetings geared to the needs of women trade unionists. These departments try to incorporate demands for equality into collective bargaining and agreements, and strive to protect womens interests. (ILO, 19-23 Nov 1990, 74.)