Trade unions and Workplace Training in France: Social Partners and VET

Trade unions have relatively little infl uence over workplace training in France in comparison with the other countries included in this collection, yet they exert considerable formal infl uence on training policy through social dialogue processes at national and sector levels. After outlining the key characteristics of French Industrial Relations (IR) and the evolution of the system of vocational education and training (VET) in France, this chapter focuses on the 2003 national negotiations which resulted in an agreement that marks a watershed in social dialogue over training. To investigate the signifi cance of this agreement and its eff ect on workplace practice, the key offi cials responsible for training in the social partner organisations, most of whom were directly involved in the national negotiations, were interviewed during the fi rst quarter of 2007. Eight people were interviewed from the fi ve main trade union confederations, the major employers’ confederation, and the National Commission for Vocational Certifi cation. Each semi-structured interview lasted between ninety minutes and four hours and was followed by further email and telephone contacts over the following year with these and other offi cials, as well as informal contacts in the course of public meetings.