France: The Work Councils and Vacations

Abstract

When we turn to France and the role of the Work Councils (comités d’entreprise) in the administration of social programmes, two characteristics of the country are worth while highlighting. The first is a strong centralized administrative state in which the office of the President is pre-eminent. The second is the role of the political left and the trade unions in promoting participation within the workplace. The need for a centralized administrative state stems from the rather complicated nature of French politics. Unlike countries of northern Europe with an established social democratic tradition, France has been politically more diverse. One way in which divergence has been accommodated is by the presence of centralized administrative structures which remain relatively constant in spite of frequent changes in political representation. The important role of the French left and the trade unions, on the other hand, flows from the ideological character of the labour movement in France. Within the work setting, workers affilate with the unions of their ideological choice rather than the unions of their trade. Hence unions vie with each other for membership and workers’ loyalty. One of the principal arenas where competition takes place is in the Work Councils which are established in thousands of companies throughout France.