In the middle of a blockage, Elisabeth Borne’s invitation to union officials to come and discuss at the beginning of next week appears to be a movement. Since the beginning of January, they have not been received and the thread of the dialogue has been, despite the days of mobilization and apart from a few informal contacts, broken.
It was indeed difficult, in the face of public opinion already largely hostile to the pension reform and in particular to raising the legal age to 64, to appear as a power which advocates dialogue but always says “no” to trade unions: refusal by Emmanuel Macron after their letter asking him to meet, refusal of a “break” to get back around the table, rejection of the request for mediation. In a scenario that goes around in circles and where skids are always feared, all parties also need to find a way out.
Responsible for the social conflict
In an Elabe poll published on Wednesday, seven out of ten French people believe that the executive must agree to put the reform on hold and set up “mediation” to discuss and negotiate with trade union and political organizations, as proposed by the leader of the CFDT, Laurent Berger. But they are also 62% – a jump of 9 points since March 10 – to blame the social conflict first Emmanuel Macron and the government.
If this invitation is a first movement, it does not mean the beginning of a retreat on the “heart of the reform”. “We’re not going to focus on the things we don’t agree on […]if he is no longer over 64, there is no longer a return to balance, there is no longer any reform, ”said the Minister for Relations with Parliament Franck Riester, on Public Senate.
But Matignon insists on an agenda that “is not fixed”. “There are plenty of subjects that can be discussed”, underlined the Minister of Transport Clément Beaune on Europe 1, who also refuted any “diversion” before the decisions of the Constitutional Council on the bill and the initiative referendum. shared , expected on April 14.
“The trade unions will be able to address all the subjects they wish, assures the entourage of Elisabeth Borne. We are not going to move on the 64 years, but it is not only the 64 years in the pension reform. ” Targeted ? The subjects of “relation to work, hardship, professional retraining, seniors…” And to add: “We are not going to build a social agenda without the social partners. »
Very narrow path
The invitation was launched at a time when the executive wants to see weak positive signals – drop in mobilization, suspension of the garbage collectors’ strike in Paris, CGT monopolized by its congress. But the meeting worries.
“It’s hyper-risky, I don’t understand why she’s doing this now,” says an executive adviser. “The unions must not make 64 years a prerequisite. We are in the syringe but we must not fall into this trap. It’s hard not to move. Retirement and work, we will be on both legs. You have to put things on the table, ”explains a minister, without the martingale having been found.
“It must not turn against us, that the unions find an argument to leave and remobilize more beautiful”, warns a heavy weight of the government. Open the dialogue without retreating while wishing to put forward ideas, the path seems very narrow.
Four of the unions which acted on Tuesday evening for an eleventh day of mobilization next Thursday clearly hinted that they were ready to meet the Prime Minister: the CFDT, the CFE-CGC, FO and Solidaires. At the CGT, in congress, the decision will be taken after the choice Friday of its new leader.
On franceinfo this Wednesday morning, the secretary general of the CFDT, Laurent Berger, confirmed that he would go to explain “why this reform is a dead end, why it arouses so much dispute, why it is unfair and why we must find a way out. output which is not the decay of the social movement, which will not happen. “He wishes to reiterate his request for “mediation” to get out of the crisis, with one objective: “The suspension” of the 64-year-old measure. FO and Solidaires, they want the “withdrawal” of all the reform.
“Too bad, we have to talk, sweeps away an executive adviser, the whole point is to show that we are capable of dialogue. » Arduous.