The head of environmentalists Marine Tondelier received at Matignon, in Paris on April 4, 2023 (AFP / Christophe ARCHAMBAULT)
Agree on nothing and especially not on pensions? Political consultations continue Tuesday in Matignon, with leaders of left parties, preludes to the long-awaited meeting between the N.1 unions and the Prime Minister and an eleventh day of mobilization.
After the tenors of the right and the center on Monday, Elisabeth Borne had an appointment with part of the left. Starting with the head of the ecologists, Marine Tondelier, who came to speak at midday “on the climate of violence” and “on the maintenance of order”.
And who made the link with the pension reform at the end of her interview: “There will be no peace without withdrawal, this is not a threat, these are the facts”, she declared , adding that “the French are not ready to turn the page”.
The Prime Minister must still receive at 5:30 p.m. the socialist Olivier Faure, who has indicated that he wishes to address “the general situation of the country” and also to demand the withdrawal of the reform.
Fabien Roussel answers the press ahead of questions to the government at the National Assembly on March 21, 2023 (AFP/Archives/Emmanuel DUNAND)
The communist Fabien Roussel declined the invitation to Matignon and went to the Elysée with some parliamentarians from his camp, but also from the centrist group Liot, to ask for a referendum on the subject.
After a “frank and direct exchange” with Emmanuel Macron’s chief of staff, positions have hardly changed. “Everyone is waiting for the decision of the Constitutional Council”, summarized Mr. Roussel.
The verdict which will be rendered on April 14 is also in the sights of the unions. “If he censors the whole of the law, it will be very good”, declared Laurent Berger in an interview with Obs. Failing this, a green light for the shared initiative referendum procedure (RIP) on pensions could also “be an opportunity not to promulgate this law and to start again on a good basis”, adds the secretary general of the CFDT .
Laurent Berger and Philippe Martinez during a demonstration against the employment of 49.3 in Paris on March 23, 2023 (AFP/Archives/Emmanuel DUNAND)
– Tune the violins –
Messages distilled the day before the inter-union meeting with the Prime Minister, Wednesday at 10 a.m. The heads of the eight main organizations also met on Tuesday afternoon at the headquarters of the CFDT to tune their violins before this summit meeting.
A first for the new general secretary of the CGT, Sophie Binet, elected last week at the end of an eventful Congress.
“It took place in a very good atmosphere. The inter-union is well united, welded. It’s reassuring, nothing has changed,” commented one of the participants on condition of anonymity to AFP. “Tomorrow the government which wants to turn the page will see that we do not want to turn the page,” said this source.
There is therefore no question of changing strategy: “We are going to repeat to the Prime Minister our opposition to 64-year-olds, ask her not to apply this text and to launch a social dialogue on work and pensions”, explains the national secretary of the CFDT Yvan Ricordeau.
After the eleventh day of action scheduled for Thursday, a twelfth should take place next week, ahead of the decision of the Constitutional Council.
Participation, down sharply last week, will be closely scrutinized, as will overflows on the sidelines of processions.
Further disruptions are expected in transport, schools or refineries.
Tuesday morning, several demonstrations in the west of the country caused road blockages in Vannes, Morlaix, Saint-Brieuc or Nantes. In Bordeaux, a power cut in the Saint-Jean station district, claimed by the CGT, deprived 22,000 homes of power according to Enedis.
A “torchlight procession” is also planned for the early evening in Rennes, at the call of several unions. And in Paris, where the sidewalks have been cleared of heaps of garbage accumulated in March, the CGT is again calling on the garbage collectors to strike “renewable” from April 13, the day before the opinion of the Constitutional Council.
The unions are already planning on the future, promising a strong mobilization to obtain the 4.7 million signatures necessary for the RIP if by chance the Constitutional Council validates the law and the referendum.
© 2023 AFP
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