The last of the last? For the 14th day of mobilization against the pension reform, the authorities expect up to 600,000 demonstrators everywhere in France. A consequent mobilization, but less compared to what the unions were able to know at the height of the protest. Asked about Europe 1 on Tuesday, Laurent Berger, leader of the CFDT and one of the figures of the inter-union, does not wish to have any illusions. “We will decide it together, but probably on the subject – purely – of pensions, it is undoubtedly one of the last days of mobilization”, he confides at the microphone of Sonia Mabrouk.
“This anger, I want to transform it”
“And that’s one more reason to go there,” he adds. 250 processions are planned on the territory, in particular in medium-sized towns such as Foix, Rouen or Albertville. A strong marker according to Laurent Berger: “It is the signal of this anger, of this feeling of not having been listened to”. He regrets that the debate is not more focused on work, “we talked to them about numbers, numbers aren’t uninteresting, but if it’s not connected to concrete realities, it doesn’t work in the heads of people”.
For the secretary general, the fight against pension reform must turn into broader demands for workers’ rights. “Me, this anger, I want to transform it. The CFDT wants to transform it into a balance of power to obtain results on purchasing power, on improving the organization of work and working conditions. a central element of the debate which unfortunately did not take place on social dialogue, on the revaluation of public officials who today suffer from extremely low salaries”, he explains.
At the head of the Trade Union Confederation for eleven years, Laurent Berger will leave his place on June 21 to the current number two of the union, Marylise Léon. However, he will continue his reflections on the organization of work, which he shared in “From contempt to anger. Essay on France at work”, published in May.