Représenter les salariés dans l'entreprise après la loi du 20 août 2008

Abstract

La réforme de la représentativité syndicale fait désormais dépendre la reconnaissance syndicale des élections professionnelles. A-t-elle contribué à « rénover la démocratie sociale », comme l’annonçait la loi du 20 août 2008 dans son intitulé ? Qu’est-ce qui a changé depuis 2008 ? En nous appuyant sur une enquête de terrain menée durant trois ans, et plus spécifiquement sur deux monographies d’entreprises, nous décrivons la mise en œuvre des nouvelles règles de représentativité en soulignant leurs usages pluriels. La portée sociale des normes juridiques dépend en effet de leur appropriation par les équipes syndicales, mais aussi par les directions d’entreprises et les agents de l’État qui, au fil de leurs interactions, donnent progressivement réalité au nouveau régime de représentativité. Au-delà de sa fonction documentaire, l’article entend aussi remplir une fonction critique : en mobilisant le cadre théorique de la sociologie politique du vote et de la représentation, il invite le lecteur à prendre du recul sur l’équivalence souvent spontanément posée entre « vote » et « démocratie ». Nous montrons que le vote est moins un vecteur de démocratisation de l’entreprise ou du syndicalisme qu’un instrument disputé de légitimation des stratégies tant syndicales que patronales. Autrement dit, loin d’être une procédure neutre servant à l’expression d’intérêts ou d’opinions préconstitués, le déroulement même de l’élection joue un rôle central dans la définition des intérêts et des opinions légitimes.

Profit Sharing as a Bargaining Weapon Against Unions

“…To further motivate the identification strategy, I document the effect of elections on union behavior with anecdotal evidence coming from a series of monographs of unions members inside French firms conducted by Béroud et al (2011) and Hege, Cothenet, Dufour, and Kahmann (2014). They show that elections can indeed lead to changes in union behavior in practice, like those predicted by the model.…”

“…In another firm the employees who were stepping up for election chose to run with that same brand in order to show voters that they would stand up for employees and oppose directors. Béroud et al (2011) report that the same strategy consisting of campaigning on a message of "dissatisfaction against the employer" was used by unions that are softer as well. Union members also note the importance of communication about their action towards workers, as well as the importance of hiring representatives that are more "professional", either in terms of bargaining or organizing.…”

“…Union members also note the importance of communication about their action towards workers, as well as the importance of hiring representatives that are more "professional", either in terms of bargaining or organizing. In Béroud et al (2011) an employer explains that in a negotiation he "conceded more than what he would have wanted" because the representative was a "very skilled negotiator". This competition is not only happening in firms with multiple unions, as representatives in single union firms acknowledge the potential threat from outsiders as well.…”

“…23 The monographs also show that employers have internalized the opportunity of getting rid of unions with the new institutional framework after 2009. Béroud et al (2011) document that some of them have tried to motivate friendlier employees to run and that in one case where one of them won, employees reported a drop in bargaining during the eighteen months after the election. Béroud, Le Crom, and Yon (2012) also document that historically, unions have been wary of grounding the legitimacy of their representation in elections precisely because of the threat that employers manipulate elections.…”

Electoral Democracy at Work

“…We study how the French reform has impacted employment relations, in particular union coverage, unionization, how unions are perceived and trusted by employers and workers, and conflicts. Béroud and Yon have already explored these questions in an analysis based on a limited number of detailed ex-post monographies in selected industries (Béroud & Yon 2014, Yon & Béroud 2013. Based on interviews with human resources managers and union representatives, they stress a large heterogeneity among the studied cases but conclude that on average the reform improved the recognition of unions by employers as a relevant partner whereas it did not seem to affect workers' appraisal of unions nor unionization.…”