Posted on Jan 5, 2022, 5:05 p.m.
A bit like the Olympic Games. Every four years, unions in the banking sector measure their strength. They do not of course do this through a sports competition, but on reading a series of decrees published in recent weeks and listing the representative trade unions, which will therefore be able to negotiate and sign branch agreements.
New for this 2021 edition (thus crystallizing the balance of power until 2025), the SNB / CFE-CGC is strengthening its grip on the sector. “We note that our actions in a constructive dialogue work, sometimes in co-management”, underlines Frédéric Guyonnet, who chairs the union.
“Co-management”
Within the AFB branch (French Association of Banks, i.e. all banks that are not mutualist) which represents 186,000 employees and includes BNP Paribas and Société Générale, it weighs 38.3%, against 34, 3% four years earlier. It thus widens the gap with the CFDT (28.8%). The latter has certainly progressed by one point since 2017, but was still leading the race in 2013.
“We remain well represented in all branches,” comments Béatrice Lepagnol, Deputy Secretary General of CFDT Banques Assurances. It is more comfortable if we want to continue to defend employees well. “
The dynamics are the same within the Banque Populaire branch. As in another important component of the sector, the Crédit Agricole branch, which oversees the 39 regional mutuals of the Crédit Agricole group. With an audience of 42.3%, the Sneca (equivalent to the SNB / CFE-CGC) becomes the leading organization in the branch, ahead of the CFDT.
“This performance is all the more remarkable given that the Crédit Agricole regional banks are the only banks in France still having employees with employee / worker status, who cannot vote for the Sneca CGE-CGC”, underlines Philippe Laisne, who chairs the Sneca. In other words, the union has refueled with executives and technicians.
Crédit Mutuel, CFDT stronghold
As for the branch of Crédit Mutuel, it remains a stronghold of the CFDT where, with 33.1%, it exceeds the rival union by ten points, and even strengthens its lead. Behind, the CFTC comes in good third in the general classification, with 11% to 15% depending on the branch.
Unions deemed “harder” still figure, even if their audiences tend to be reduced. Within the AFB, FO and the CGT thus weigh 10% and 12% respectively. “There may be among employees the desire for more pluralism,” said Valérie Lefebvre Haussmann, secretary general of the banking federation of the CGT.
This ranking is based on the average scores obtained by organizations over the last four years in social elections. To be representative at the branch level, an organization must achieve a score of at least 8%, while it is 10% at the company level.
These scores testify to the balance of power between organizations, but also to their ability to sign branch agreements. Under the rules of representativeness, from 30% of the vote, a union can sign on its own, a coalition of 50% being able to oppose it.
