Increase in the SMIC: ‘We are giving a wrong answer to a real problem,’ reacts Medef president Patrick Martin

“We are providing a bad response to a real problem,” reacted on franceinfo, Monday November 9, Patrick Martin, president of Medef, after the announcement of the increase in the minimum wage of 1.6% in December. Patrick Martin recalls that there have been three increases in the minimum wage in 2026 and that "no one is talking about employment, investment and growth anymore", which he considers to be "the real answer" to the loss of purchasing power of the French. Also read • Direct Social Conference: "The government has only announced crumbs to us", denounces the CGT, which calls for a strike on November 17 The boss of Medef adds that "if we want to meet these legitimate expectations of purchasing power, we must create jobs where we are destroying them.

We need growth where we are bordering on recession. We must invest while in the last quarter, investment plunged frighteningly" in France. Having the means to increase wages As for the idea of ​​increasing wages to stimulate growth, Patrick Martin responds that "we still need to have "the means [to] increase them.

With the increases in payroll, we have groups of companies in sectors with a high intensity of maneuver which will be in loss" he warns again. During a meeting in Matignon, Monday, at the end of the social conference between social partners, Jean-Pierre Farandou, Minister of Labor, announced an increase in the minimum wage of 1.6% on December 1. "When we do the calculation, we pass the bar of 1,500 euros", continues the minister which details that the minimum wage will be increased “to 1,502 euros” net.

Machine-translated from French