The long-awaited meeting between Elisabeth Borne and the inter-union to end the pension dispute ended on Wednesday in “failure” according to the unions, who see a “democratic crisis” in the Prime Minister’s refusal to withdraw the reform.
Despite this disagreement, the head of government assured that she “did not plan to move forward without the social partners” on other work-related topics.
The employers’ organizations Medef, CPME and U2P, received in the afternoon, reiterated their support for the text and asked Ms Borne to “better take into account” the bilateral negotiations between unions and employers, citing the agreement on the sharing of value, which the government intends to include in a law.
As for Les Républicains officials, they did not wish to speak after 90 minutes of interview, at the start of the evening, at Matignon.
On the eve of an 11th day of mobilization, the leaders of the eight trade unions, who arrived at Matignon shortly after 10 a.m., together and on foot, came out after an hour. CFTC boss Cyril Chabanier read a text from the intersyndicale on the steps.
“We repeated to the Prime Minister that there can be no other democratic outcome than the withdrawal of the text. The Prime Minister replied that she wanted to maintain her text, a serious decision”, he declared . The unions therefore refuse “to turn the page and to open, as the government proposes, other consultation sequences on issues as diverse as full employment or the sharing of wealth”.
“We have a social crisis which is turning into a democratic crisis”, estimated the leader of the CFDT Laurent Berger, while the new boss of the CGT Sophie Binet affirmed that “the government will not be able to govern the country as long as this reform does not will not be withdrawn”.
Emmanuel Macron’s entourage, currently traveling in China, vigorously contested this analysis and affirmed that the pension project had been “carried, explained and assumed” by the president.
“No social and political force, opposition” has “wanted to enter into a compromise and carry another project”, it was added.
Remarks disputed in the evening by Laurent Berger who called on Emmanuel Macron on BFMTV “to keep his nerves”. “I call on the President of the Republic not to throw little sentences (…) otherwise he will end up alienating all the trade union organizations”, he warned, visibly exasperated.
Unionists had warned that they would leave the meeting if Elisabeth Borne refused to talk about the increase in the retirement age to 64, which crystallizes anger.
This is the first time they have been received at Matignon since the presentation on January 10 of the reform.
Laurent Berger said he was relying on “the wisdom of the Constitutional Council” which must render its decision on April 14, and called on “a maximum of workers to join the processions” on Thursday.
“We chose to end this useless meeting when the Prime Minister told us that she would continue to govern against the country,” said Sophie Binet, recalling that the draft first employment contract (CPE) had been withdrawn a month. after its adoption.
“The inter-union will be united until the end,” she assured.
No one had any illusions about the outcome of the meeting. It was “already written”, according to a leading minister, who was counting on a “dead end”.
Laurent Escure for Unsa pointed to “a huge responsibility in the hands of the President of the Republic” and called on him not to promulgate the law.
Emmanuel Macron will make “contacts” to see the unions after the decision of the Constitutional Council, according to his entourage.
The Minister of Health François Braun spoke on France Bleu of other meetings “in the coming days to find a way out”, without further details.
Among the political opponents, the leader of the Insoumis Jean-Luc Mélenchon castigated a Prime Minister “walled in the denial of reality” who “transforms a social crisis into a political crisis by her obstinacy”, the First Secretary of the PS Olivier Faure an executive who “sinks the country into crisis”.
The reform generated an unprecedented almost weekly mobilization of up to 1.3 million people in the street on March 7 (according to the authorities), more than during previous pension crises. These demonstrations experienced renewed tension after the adoption without a vote of the reform in Parliament, via article 49.3.
At the call of the CGT, employees of the cultural sector on Wednesday installed a large banner at the top of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris where one could read “64 is no!”, resulting in the closure of the building for an hour .
Strongly disrupted since the beginning of March by social movements, waste collection has however resumed in the metropolises of Rennes and Nantes.
For Thursday, “around 20%” of primary school teachers will be on strike, predicts the Snuipp-FSU union, a lower estimate than that of March 28. SNCF plans to run 3 out of 4 TGVs and 1 out of 2 TERs, a marked improvement in traffic compared to previous mobilization days.
04/05/2023 22:37:19 – Paris (AFP) – © 2023 AFP