If the executive sought to reunite the trade unions, it fulfilled its mission effectively. Monday, September 19, the Minister of Labor, Olivier Dussopt, opened a consultation with the social partners on the subject of pension reform. At the end of the meeting, the employee organizations unanimously expressed their concern and their hostility in the face of a project which remains unclear, in terms of both content and method, to pass it through Parliament.
The purpose of Monday’s meeting was “to discuss the conclusions of the report of the Pensions Orientation Council [COR] », made public four days earlier. This document shows that pension schemes, taken as a whole, returned to surpluses in 2021, but that they should plunge back into the red from 2023 and remain in deficit at least until the second half of the 2030s.
The agenda proposed by Mr. Dussopt was commented on with perplexity, even irony, by union representatives, who responded to journalists on the sidewalk, in front of the entrance to the Ministry of Labor. “We were given a summary presentation of the COR report, which we had all read and to which we had [déjà] all reacted »said Dominique Corona, Deputy Secretary General of the UNSA, wondering “What was the purpose of this meeting”. “We don’t really know why we came, quite honestly”, added Cyril Chabanier, president of the CFTC. Michel Beaugas, confederal secretary of FO, for his part, had the impression that the Minister of Labor wanted to explain to his guests “How to properly read the COR report”. It was “retirement for dummies”launched Catherine Perret, number two of the CGT, in a tone of mockery.
“There is no fire”
The discussions focused on the same battery of figures, but Mr. Dussopt and the employee organizations drew very different lessons. For the tenant in Rue de Grenelle, the system is not balanced over time, as its resources are insufficient to cover all pension expenses. Therefore, it should be brought back to the waterline, by asking workers to work longer, which will increase contribution income and reduce the burden of pensions.
“We have a ministry that aims to blacken the financial perspective of the plans (…) to legitimize a measure that would take place quickly”estimated Yvan Ricordeau, national secretary of the CFDT. “We felt that Olivier Dussopt was lapping up the elements of government language (…) for the purpose of running”, added Benoît Teste, Secretary General of the FSU. The two union officials allude to the declarations of Emmanuel Macron, on September 12, which put pension reform back at the top of the priorities, with a possible raising of the legal retirement age or an increase in the duration of insurance for receive a full pension. From now on, the Head of State does not rule out the idea of introducing these changes in the Social Security financing bill for 2023, the examination of which begins in the National Assembly in the second week of october.
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