Workers’ Participation at Plant Level: France

This chapter by Rehfeldt analyzes the French system of workers’ participation. The first part deals with its historical sedimentation and explains why it has emerged so lately. The historical heritage is a model based on mistrust and conflict. The second section describes the great variety of representation bodies, most of which are limited to information and consultation. A 2017 reform will unify these bodies. Economic participation through board-level representation is very weak, initially limited to the public sector and recently extended to large private companies. A specific feature is a distinct union representation through delegates with a monopoly for collective bargaining, as long as unions are present at the workplace level. In this case, the unions coordinate the whole system of worker participation.