Will go? Will not go? While Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne invited union officials to meet her at the start of the week at Matignon, will the unions respond to the invitation? “We cannot ask for weeks to be received and not go when it is offered to us”, recognized Wednesday, March 29 on France Info the secretary general of the CFDT, Laurent Berger.
A position that seems to contrast with the rest of the inter-union – which until now was a prerequisite for the withdrawal of the reform –, even if he assured to express himself in agreement with it. “We talked about it: we think we have to go there to bring our proposals”, he explained Tuesday evening on TMC.
The risk of a dialogue of the deaf
If, for the moment, Matignon is careful not to put forward an agenda, the head of government had detailed, Sunday, March 26 in an interview with AFP, the possible subjects of discussion: the quality of life at work, training, hardship, professional retraining, seniors…
Retirees ? Laurent Berger was very clear on France Info: the unions will come to Matignon “without naivety” : “We’ll talk about retirement and turning 64, and if we’re told, ‘You can’t talk about it’, then we’ll leave. “Let’s try to talk about the subjects on which we agree”, rather advanced the Minister of Relations with Parliament Franck Riester, Wednesday morning on Public Senate. The meeting risks quickly turning into a dialogue of the deaf.
« we esplet’s hope that it won’t last ten minutes, that it will be constructive, and thatthey will talk about pensions», according to the group of MoDem deputies in the National Assembly, who said they were in favor of setting up mediation around the pension reform proposed by Laurent Berger. « We Ndon’t have the magic formula. Each must take a step towards the other. And the prerequisite is to create a binder. It will perhaps be up to the president to receive them afterwards. But we must not close any track on the method, it is not incidental», we still say in the party of François Bayrou.
The CGT, a weighty unknown
If the CFDT, the CFE-CGC but also FO and Solidaires wish to go to Matignon, there remains a significant unknown: the CGT, in congress until Friday in Clermont-Ferrand (Puy-de-Dôme) in particular to find a successor to Philip Martinez. The tense debates often come back to the strategy of the central pensions, even if it means questioning the line of the inter-union defended by the outgoing management.
Early Wednesday afternoon, a congressman thus defended the idea that the inter-union imposes an appointment with the Prime Minister on Thursday, the day of the next demonstration, “and that it arrives at Matignon”. “If the inter-union refused, the CGT should take its responsibilities and call alone for this demonstration”, he argued.
If he was quickly cut off by the session presidency, the applause to support him reminded us that this hard line is strong within the CGT. “No break or mediation, strikes and demonstrations until the withdrawal. The balance of power is in our favour, withdrawal is at hand. Let’s not give up,” tweeted, for example, Céline Verzeletti, considered a possible next secretary general and supported by major federations.
The person who will succeed Philippe Martinez will be known on Friday March 31 in the morning: according to the mandate given to him by his congress, he could hold the future of the inter-union in his hands.
For the leaders of the reformist centrals, the inter-union should not stop now, the discussions should allow to lower the tension while waiting for the opinion of the Constitutional Council on the reform. The wise men announced that they would publish their decision on April 14. “I wonder if Emmanuel Macron is not waiting for too many articles to be censored so as not to enact the reformspeculates a reformist official. It could be a good way to get out of it without losing face. »