General political speech: unemployed people who have lost their rights, under the gun of Gabriel Attal

In mid-January, Emmanuel Macron announced new repressions against the unemployed. Gabriel Attal was responsible for lifting the veil of a shock measure: the end of the Special Solidarity Allowance (ASS), an aid created in 1984 and financed by the state to guarantee minimum resources for job seekers who had exhausted their entitlements to unemployment insurance. “I will propose its removal,” the prime minister said on Tuesday, January 30, in a proposal hidden in his lengthy declaration of general policy to the National Assembly.

We must “fight the traps of inaction,” he insisted. And put forward an argument that is sure to make the unions jump. “ASS allows you to confirm your retirement quarters without working. However, retirement should always remain the fruit of labor. »

So what will happen to the 322,000 people currently in ASS? They will switch to the Regional State Administration, the head of government said. The distribution conditions are slightly more stringent, particularly with regard to the ceiling on a household’s monthly resources. As for the amount, it is slightly higher, but decreases depending on income (up to 607.75 euros per month in South Africa per person, compared to 545.10 euros in the ACC). The difference is significant in pension rights. In fact, people with RSA do not contribute to pension savings and the periods are not taken into account in the calculation (unlike ACC).

Threat of a new frame letter

“The search for a more efficient and less costly social model is not a curse, it is an imperative,” said Gabriel Attal. More generally, “we must go further in the reform of unemployment insurance,” he continued, recalling that negotiations had been started between the social partners “in favor of the employment of older people.”

The government firmly expects to reach an agreement on this issue and has set a goal of saving at least 440 million euros over the period 2024-2027. How ? By raising the age limit at which unemployed people aged 55 and over are entitled to longer compensation, and by shortening this period. If the financial trajectory “deviates”, the government will not hesitate to “ask the social partners to put the work back on track based on a new framework letter”, Gabriel Attal threatened.

Focusing on the “full employment target” – while the unemployment rate began to rise again (7.4% in the third quarter of 2023, up from 7.1% in the first quarter) – the Prime Minister also announced that “a new The “Labor Law Reform” stage will begin “after the summer.”