Representation plans slated

French unions have slammed proposed new structures for employee representation in small and medium-sized companies.

A report presented last month to the French government suggests that in companies employing fewer than 250 employees the existing structure of union delegates, personnel representatives and company committee should be swept away and replaced with a single company council.

The proposals form part of a wider project to simplify employment rights, which the French employment minister, François Fillon, commissioned from a group of experts last year.

Other suggestions contained in the report include a new form of employment contract for specialists and managers, which would only run for the length of a specific project, and a new mechanism for giving trade unions negotiating rights. This would involve a vote every five years to see how much support each trade union organisation had.

Marayse Dumas of the CGT said the proposals on representation will "further weaken the rights of company committees in economic issues and those of the unions in the area of negotiation".

However, employers' association Medef has welcomed the report's suggestions.

The proposals may well form part of the government's future programme. Fillon was due to meet employers and unions to discuss the next step as Labour Research went to press.