“The Unfulfilled Promise of Recognizing and Revaluing ‘Second Line’ Workers: An Interview with Economist Christine Erhel”

After the praise of Emmanuel Macron, during confinement, of so-called “second line” employees, the economist Christine Erhel, who co-directed the mission on the revaluation of these professions, draws up a more than mixed assessment of what has been undertaken.

On April 13, 2020, at the heart of the first confinement, Emmanuel Macron praised, during a televised speech, the “second lines”. The Head of State quoted “our farmers, our teachers, our truck drivers, delivery men, electricians, handlers, cashiers and cashiers, our garbage collectors, security and cleaning staff…”and promised: “We will have to remember that our country, today, relies entirely on women and men whom our economies recognize and remunerate so poorly.” A year later, a mission commissioned by the Ministry of Labor confirmed the diagnosis: the “second lines” are indeed underpaid and poorly recognized. And today ? While the government tries to respond to the pension crisis by claiming to want to tackle the issues of wages and working conditions, while throwing the ball back to the “social partners”, the economist Christine Erhel (Centre d’études de employment and work of the National Conservatory of Arts and Crafts), which co-directed the mission on the second lines, draws up a more than mixed assessment of what has been undertaken.

What follow-up was given to your mission on the “second lines”?

There has been no follow-up work on this population. That