Barthelemy Philippe with AFP
modified to
3:18 p.m., April 05, 2023
The long-awaited meeting between Elisabeth Borne and the inter-union to end the pension dispute ended Wednesday in a “failure” according to the unions, who see a “democratic crisis” in the Prime Minister’s refusal to withdraw the contested reform . Despite this disagreement, the head of government assured that she “does not plan to move forward without the social partners” on other work-related topics.
“We have a social crisis that is turning into a democratic crisis”
The leaders of the eight trade unions who arrived shortly after 10 a.m., together and on foot, at Matignon came out after an hour and it was the boss of the CFTC, Cyril Chabanier who read a text from the intersyndicale on the steps . “We repeated to the Prime Minister that there can be no other democratic outcome than the withdrawal of the text. The Prime Minister replied that she wanted to maintain her text, a serious decision”, declared Cyril Chabanier. “We refuse to turn the page and open, as the government proposes, other sequences of consultation on issues as diverse as full employment or the sharing of wealth”, added on behalf of the inter-union Cyril Chabanier .
“We have a social crisis which is turning into a democratic crisis”, underlined like the other unions the leader of the CFDT Laurent Berger while the new boss of the CGT Sophie Binet affirmed that “the government will not be able to govern the country as long as this reform will not be withdrawn, we can see that”. Emmanuel Macron’s entourage, currently traveling in China, vigorously disputed this analysis of the unions and affirmed that the pension project had been “carried, explained and assumed” by the president. “That an elected president with an elected majority, albeit relative, seeks to carry out a project that has been carried out democratically, that is not called a democratic crisis”.
The unions had warned
The trade unionists had warned that they would leave the meeting if Elisabeth Borne refused to talk about the decline in the retirement age to 64, which crystallizes the anger. It is the first time that they have been received at Matignon since the presentation on January 10 of the reform, which generated an unprecedented mobilization in the street. The Prime Minister had promised that she would be “listening to all subjects” except pension reform.
Laurent Berger also said he relied on “the wisdom of the Constitutional Council” which must render its decision on April 14, and called on “a maximum of workers to join the processions” Thursday, during an 11th day of mobilization against reform. “We chose to end this useless meeting when the Prime Minister told us that she would continue to govern against the country,” said Sophie Binet, recalling that the draft First Hire Contract (CPE) had been withdrawn one day. months after its adoption.
“The inter-union will be united until the end”, she assured, sweeping away speculation on the recent dissonances between the CFDT, which claims to “withdraw or suspend” the text, and the CGT, which wants the “withdrawal “pure and simple.
On the side of the opponents of the reform as well as the executive, no one had any illusions about the outcome of the meeting, which was “already written”, according to a leading minister, who was counting before this meeting on deadlock”. Elisabeth Borne “has absolutely nothing different from us”, lamented Benoît Teste, secretary general of the FSU, underlining the “closed faces” of his interlocutors.
Laurent Escure for Unsa pointed out “a huge responsibility in the hands of the President of the Republic, who can now (…) not promulgate this law”. Emmanuel Macron will nevertheless make “contacts” to see the unions after the decision of the Constitutional Council, according to his entourage.
Jean-Luc Mélenchon denounces an “obtuse government which chooses blocking”
Among the political opponents, the leader of the Insoumis Jean-Luc Mélenchon denounced an “obtuse government which chooses blocking”, and the first secretary of the PS Olivier Faure an executive which “drives the country into crisis”. Jean-Luc Mélenchon castigated a Prime Minister “radicalized and walled in denial of reality” who “transforms a social crisis into a political crisis through her obstinacy”.
The reform generated an unprecedented almost weekly mobilization of up to 1.3 million people in the streets on March 7 (according to the authorities), more than in 1995 or 2010 during previous pension crises. And these demonstrations experienced a resurgence of tensions after the adoption without a vote of the reform in Parliament, via article 49.3.