Question 16101 — work

Summary

Mr. Hadrien Clouet alerts the Minister of Labor and Solidarity about the deliberate sabotage of the Institute for Economic and Social Research (IRES), a reference space for socio-economic research, at the risk of depriving the country of essential knowledge for all the challenges of the 21st century. Because, since its creation in 1982, this institute has been a pillar of economic and social analysis in France. With the French Observatory of economic conditions (macroeconomic institute) and Rexecode (employer expertise center), IRES represents the third pillar of independent expertise on work, employment and the economy. Its uniqueness: constituting the only research space directly serving workers, through their union organizations. These - CGT, CFDT, FO, CFE-CGC, CFTC, UNSA-Éducation - make up almost half of its council of administration, alongside scientific figures and representatives of the State. The research team includes around twenty social science researchers, some with permanent status, others associated with the Institute. They ensure the production of data and studies independent of ministries and the current political concerns of an executive. Especially since their results are fully accessible to the general public. audience. Its review, published twice a year, has 117 issues, the last devoted to the psychological, social and political issues of work. It is supplemented by an international chronicle, which provides information on major social choices or processes at work in other countries. Shorter formats, such as analysis notes, address specific issues in concise terms. Finally, its commissioned research reports address topics crucial for the contemporary trade union world. It should be noted that in support of external research, IRES opens its documentation center to trade union organizations, scientists and students. The variety of studies produced within IRES is impressive. In May-June 2026 only, the institute published, among other things, survey documents or union expertise on the data economy, strategies entrepreneurial in the face of variations in activity, recent reforms of collective bargaining, on industrial decarbonization, public aid to businesses on the European continent, the research tax credit, Uberization in the public space or even the methodology for studying real work in companies. What public policy can do without knowledge in all of these areas? As for the five axes retained by the scientific commission's program for the years to come, they are as follows: employment, work, income and social protection, changes in the productive system, professional relations, regulation and standards, employer responsibility, dissemination of knowledge in public debate. Every parliamentarian needs reliable and robust studies on each of these subjects. Hence the increasing requests addressed by international research networks at IRES, even though successive budgets torpedo it. Furthermore, if we abandon the strict publications, the IRES is an essential place for organizing debate. Its study days focus on improving working conditions in December 2025, well-being at work in September 2025 or the financing of pension plans in July 2025. Its international seminar highlights grappling with researchers and trade unionists, for example on Carrefour's strategies in December 2025 or on feminist struggles in the Tunisian world of work in May 2025. In addition to being an intellectual crucible of trade unionism, all the evaluation reports underline the irreplaceable contribution of IRES to public policies. Its pluralism, its exteriority in relation to the administration, makes it possible to host debates there varied and pluralistic without comparison. His ability to discuss, disseminate or criticize administrative reports is crucial for their quality. This is what neighboring countries have understood, as evidenced by the unfailing support of German public authorities for the WSI, a fairly comparable institute but with a much higher budget. However, successive, cumulative and continuous budget cuts endanger this institution. THE The number of researchers made available was divided by four. Recurring funding has collapsed. The state subsidy is now entirely absorbed by the payroll, prohibiting any large-scale research project - in order to be able to point to a drop in publications and thus threaten the institute itself. In such a situation, all the presidents or general secretaries of trade union confederations have addressed a joint letter to the Prime Minister in order to alert him of the situation and reiterate their need for such an institute for trade union and labor knowledge. To date, the letter has not received a response from the executive. The MP therefore shares his deepest concern regarding government projects, is surprised by the silence opposed to a unanimous inter-union request and calls on the Minister of Labor and Solidarity to grant a decent operating budget for an organization as essential as IRES. He wants to know her intentions on this matter.

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