The pension reform entered the National Assembly on Monday. In the hemicycle as in the street, the government bill continues to be debated. This weekend, the League for Human Rights (LDH) also took part in the discussions by sharing on its social networks a “very severe opinion” from the Council of State on the pension reform project with, in link, an article from Les Échos. “The LDH calls for joining the united trade union front to stop this unacceptable regression,” the publication added.
In the columns of the media specializing in economics, the journalist explains that the highest court in the country, the Council of State, has rendered a negative judgment on the pension reform project brought by the government. But the article actually dates from January 24, 2020 and the pension reform then had nothing of the one currently being debated between the deputies. Three years ago, the project concerned the transition from the 42 schemes to a single points scheme. Contacted by 20 Minutesthe League of Human Rights recognizes an error and the publication has since been deleted.
“A real denial of democracy”
Within the LDH, the pension reform remains a subject of concern, both in substance and form. “Unacceptable in its content, this reform also questions in terms of method, the announced procedure constituting a real denial of democracy if the government goes to the end of what it has announced”, already explained a press release published on January 17. 2023.
For its vice-president Marie-Christine Vergiat, questioned by 20 Minutes, it is necessary to question the democratic method currently used by the government, in particular with the use of the PLFSSR (Amendment bill for the financing of Social Security) as well as the law of 47-1. As a reminder, this article of the constitution significantly accelerates the examination of the bill. “If the National Assembly has not decided on the first reading within forty days after the filing of a bill, the government seizes the Senate which must decide within fifteen days”, stipulates article 47 of the Constitution. “It’s a problem for democracy and social democracy in particular,” criticizes Marie-Christine Vergiat.
An accumulation of precariousness
The League of Human Rights also accuses the current reform of aggravating already existing inequalities. “For some time, we have noticed imbalances from above, but also from below. The rich are getting poorer and, conversely, the poor are getting poorer”. The association warns of the fate of the most precarious. “For many years, the poorest people stood on a pedestal because the French social safety net still seemed to work”. But since the start of the health crisis, Marie-Christine Vergiat has noticed a brutal change in society.
Basically, there would therefore be very bad timing, according to the LDH. “At a time when inequalities and precariousness are increasing, proposing a pension reform risks destroying the social state and social protection in the broad sense of the term”, calls into question Marie-Christine Vergiat who lists other obstacles already encountered by the pass. “There has already been the unemployment reform or the reform of the Labor Code. We see all of these fundamentals getting worse.”
Careers in trouble
However, some are all the more concerned by the increase in inequalities. “When we touch the social protection system which guarantees minimums to everyone, some find themselves in the hole in the net”. Among them, Marie-Christine Vergiat cites, for example, intermediate careers. “It is not only small pensions, but also incomplete pensions that will continue to find themselves in difficulty with respect to the global pension system”.
Other spheres of society are also neglected by the reform, accuses the LDH, in particular trades with a strong arduousness. “We know that the more the retirement age is increased, the more mortality and the arrival of retirement age in good health are weakened. They have very little chance either of reaching retirement or if they do – of being in good health”. Women also seem to be the big forgotten of the reform, according to Marie-Christine Vergiat. According to the latest report on the impact of the government bill, they will indeed have to postpone their retirement by seven months on average, compared to five for men.
While a new day of strike is organized this Tuesday, the Human Rights League continues to call for mobilization alongside the trade unions. “All of this is contrary to the democratic principles that are dear to us and we consider that these are measures of social injustice”, concludes Marie-Christine Vergiat.