CFDT activists have just sent a strong warning to their number one, Laurent Berger, and his close guard on the issue of pensions. Gathered in congress in Lyon since Monday, June 13, the unions of the cededist central obtained, Thursday, against the opinion of their confederal authorities, that the roadmap of their organization be rewritten because they considered it ambiguous: in their eyes, this text – called “general resolution” internally – could give the impression that they were ready to accept an extension of the contribution period in order to receive a full pension. They wanted to close the door to this hypothesis by defending an amendment which was adopted by just over 67% of the votes. A very clear majority, which shows that many members expect a very firm position from their leaders in the face of Emmanuel Macron’s project to “work longer” population.
The debate focused on a few words of the general resolution which reaffirm that the CFDT accepts an increase in the contribution period to respond to the increase in life expectancy. On the part of the cedists, this has been a constant position for at least ten years. She had also led the confederation to give its imprimatur to the “Touraine law” of January 2014 which gradually increases to 172 quarters the period of affiliation required to receive a full pension.
But the wording retained in the resolution was considered ambiguous, in particular by the Interco-CFDT union of the Somme. She “could fuel unjust reform, especially at this time”as indicated, Thursday afternoon, its general secretary, Arnaud Espel, whose intervention was very applauded by the assistance. “Is it up to us and, above all, is it the right time to go back to the parameters? », he wondered. Other components of the plant had expressed the same apprehensions on the eve of the opening of the congress.
“In tune with public opinion”
Frédéric Sève, national secretary in charge of the file, tried to dispel these fears, recalling that the offending sentence only ” to resume “ a doctrine forged long ago. “It is still topical, it identifies us, it is consistent with our values, it is also in line with public opinionhe pleaded. We don’t need to change it to counter government projects, quite the contrary. » His speech was punctuated by applause and boos – which is not usual at a CFDT congress. The proclamation of the results gave rise to cries of joy and whistles, as if to materialize the dividing line that crossed the amphitheater of the Cité internationale de Lyon.
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