First modification:
All unions have come together to call on citizens to oppose the extension of the legal retirement age to 64 years. Two more years choking on public opinion. This Tuesday, February 7, the unions call for a new strike, the third after those of January 19 and 31. Disruptions are expected in public transport, refineries, in the Education sector and in airports. A new pulse between unions and the government that begins to wear out.
With Valérie Gas, from the RFI political service
It is the reform in which Emmanuel Macron has no right to fail. It is the battle of credibility for the opposition and the moment of proof of strength for the unions.
Will Macron resist the movement against his pension reform? The latest polls published at the end of January by Ipsos show that the pension reform is taking its toll on the president whose popularity has dropped to 34%. Its lowest level since 2020, just before the confinement due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The French president announced this reform already in his presidential electoral program. He acquired the commitment to carry it out and establish the limit at 65 years, without a doubt to leave himself a margin of maneuver and be able to reduce that age to 64 years as a kind of concession to the concertation.
But the unions do not understand it as a concession, from Philippe Martinez’s CGT to Laurent Berger’s CFDT, they continue to reject this reform. However, for Emmanuel Macron, the pension reform is not negotiable.
For the president it is a kind of indicator, if he fails with this reform, he will be tied hand and foot to continue governing for the rest of his term. Something unimaginable for a president with a deeply reforming DNA.
There is no choice, Macron will have to put up with the increasingly frequent demonstrations, strikes and blockades in France. And not only this, he will also have to resist public opinion polls that indicate that the majority of the French are against this reform.
The reform of all reforms could spell his downfall. Faced with this situation, the president tries to preserve himself, sending his prime minister, Elisabeth Borne, to the front line. Macron stays behind the scenes, even though, in private, he chafes at his government’s missteps on communication.
He may lose the battle of opinion, but not to mention losing the political battle. That is your goal. All the senior officials of their political majority have promised that the law will be approved in Parliament, either through a vote or by decree, with article 49.3, hoping that after it is approved, the social storm will calm down.