There will be strikes and demonstrations if the executive maintains its intention to push back the legal retirement age to 65. This warning is sent by eight employee organizations and five youth defense movements, in a joint press release issued on Tuesday, October 4. Their position was made public 24 hours before the start of a “consultation” that the Minister of Labor, Olivier Dussopt, will lead on the transformation of pension schemes, a first meeting being scheduled for Wednesday afternoon with the social partners. Even before the opening of discussions, the inter-union seeks to display its combativeness and its cohesion against one of the major axes of the reform promised by Emmanuel Macron during the presidential campaign.
The text unveiled on Tuesday follows a meeting that took place the day before at the UNSA headquarters in Bagnolet (Seine-Saint-Denis). The five representative confederations at interprofessional level (CFDT, CFE-CGC, CFTC, CGT, Force Ouvrière) took part, as well as the FSU, Solidaires, the UNSA and organizations representing students and high school students (FAGE, FIDL, MNL, UNEF, High school voice).
The message from the allies is clear: they “will not hesitate to build all the necessary means of action if the government remains propped up on its project”. The forms that the mobilization would take are not specified, but all the protagonists are obviously thinking of work stoppages and protest demonstrations in the streets.
“No savings”
The warning makes sense because the signers of the release are hostile “any increase in the legal retirement age and an increase in the contribution period”. In support of their speech, they point out that half of the employees no longer work when they claim the payment of their pension – being either unemployed, or on disability, or recipients of a social minimum. Such situations of precariousness risk becoming longer if the law postpones the moment when retirement can be taken. In addition, an age measure “would not generate (…) no savings » since our social protection system should take care of these people who remain inactive for longer.
The thirteen organizations concerned also want to make it clear that they do not only pose as a force of obstruction. From the first lines of the text, they “say they are open to consultations” proposed by the power in place, hoping that these will be “loyal”, « transparent » and that they reinforce the “social justice”. In their eyes, the exchanges must make it possible to address several themes: employment of seniors, hardship, long careers, employment-retirement transition, end of professional careers, financing, gender equality… A list very similar to that which had exposed by the Prime Minister, Elisabeth Borne, when she announced, on September 29, the launch of consultations.
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