French unions to meet Macron to discuss pension reform

French unions will continue their action to demand the annulment of the pension reform, continuing with the protest they have been leading since Januaryand although they are ready to go to the dialogue to which the Government will invite them, they will do so with conditions, Efe believes.

This is the message, with important nuances, of the main union leaders on the eve of the thirteenth day of unitary mobilization that they called this May 1st against the pension reform that will postpone the minimum retirement age from the current 62 to 64 years. “Of course we will talk”said this Sunday the general secretary of the French Democratic Confederation of Labor (CFDT, the country’s first headquarters), Laurent Berger, when asked in an interview broadcast by LCI about the expected invitation to be announced by Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne in the coming days.

Berger noted that “We will go and discuss because that is the role of the trade unionists”, but he pointed out that he will do so in a way that includes them in decision-making and on topics that they consider to be of interest to workers. He insisted that he still does not accept the extension of the retirement age limit of the reform “and I will never accept it, but I look directly at the reality”.

This means that, for example, forms of mobilization will develop giving support to opposition parliamentarians who want a law to repeal the reform for prosperity, that is, formulas that will be negotiated by all unions on Tuesday. Also, that they want to progress in parallel with the Government and with employers in matters of interest to workers, such as salary increases, work organization or working conditions.

He warned that “we will have demands in terms of concrete results”. The leader of CFDT, an organization with a reform tendency, insisted on the desire to preserve trade union unity, but called for diversity among trade unions and pointed out that not everything will necessarily be done together. The general secretary of the General Confederation of Labor (CGT), Sophie Binet, indicated for her part that they will also attend the government’s invitation, but “with our social agenda”, and that includes demands for wages, improvement of working conditions to reduce work-related injuries or reduction of working hoursamong others.

In an interview with the France 3 channel, Binet warned that he would not act like “firemen” in order to save the face of the executive power and he also reiterated his willingness to maintain union unitycompletely unprecedented, which also took place during the protest against the pension reform.

Both Binet and Berger agreed to accuse the attitude of contempt that they believe the government and President Emmanuel Macron have maintained in this crisis, which has sparked social outrage and that, in their electoral opinion, has benefited the extreme Marine Le Pen is in the right one. “Letting things rot works in Le Pen’s favor”another emphasized.