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French Pension Funds Scandal
Negotiating tool
The FT (tedious registration that refuses to keep readers logged in required) has the best analysis we've seen of a backhander scam which has shamed both France's trade unions and MEDEF, the employers foundation.
It appears that negotiators representing the metallurgy industry kept a large supply of cash (reportedly 17 million euros) in bank boxes in Paris, which officials raided when entering talks with union leaders. The cash was handed to union reps to "smooth social relations" (ahem) and ensure a favourable outcome for both sides.
The cash didn't go to help struggling comrades or pay for swish union premises, but was allegedly pocketed by the recipients. Neither MEDEF nor the union barons kept track of the money, as French law allows for oddities in union funding.
The FT quotes one MEDEF member:
“It is interesting that we have had this sort of scandal in the two countries in Europe that have institutionalised social relations... This is the historical legacy of people who have acquired power because we allowed them to manage social systems and gave them money.”
