When union strategy meets business strategy: The union voucher at Axa

Rémi Bourguignon (1) , Mathieu Floquet (2)

1 IAE Paris - Sorbonne Business School
2 LOG - Laboratoire Orléanais de Gestion (1998-2011)

In the 1980s, the French reformist union CFDT and insurance company Axa tested the union voucher. This was a novel solution for the union branch inside the company to address financial difficulties, broaden its membership base and generate new resources. The union voucher is a tool that provides unions with company funding: the company distributes vouchers to employees on an annual basis; employees then allocate the voucher (or not) to the union branch of their choice. The voucher system thus combines company financing and individual employee choice. Axa adopted the system in the early 1990s. Axa’s decision can ultimately be explained by its external growth strategy and because it needed to preserve a favourable social climate during a period of intense restructuring. This article traces the history of the union voucher and assesses Axa’s experience.

Mots clés: Industrial relations; French unions; Union finance; Axa; CFDT

Domaines: Gestion et management

Rémi Bourguignon, Mathieu Floquet. When union strategy meets business strategy: The union voucher at Axa. Business History, 2019, 61 (2), pp.260-280. ⟨10.1080/00076791.2017.1368491⟩. ⟨hal-01654637⟩