The trade unions are worried about the push of the far right, while the bosses insist on the reforms to be carried out for the re-elected president.
The trade unions and employers’ organizations welcomed the result of the second round of the presidential election, giving Emmanuel Macron the winner and re-elected against Marine Le Pen. On the side of the bosses, it is the victory of the outgoing president that we praise, while insisting on the projects to be carried out. Among the unions, relief at the defeat of the far-right candidate is in order, even if they are worried about her surge to more than 40%.
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“The worst was avoided today. But almost 42% of votes for the far right mean that nothing can and should be the same“, tweeted Laurent Berger, the general secretary of the CFDT, the first union in France.
“The Republic is safe. And fighting for social justice in a democratic framework remains possible. But a vote for the Republic which is a majority only among the oldest and most favored must question all the democrats“, tweeted for his part Laurent Escure, from Unsa, giving”see you on May 1“.
Several unions (CGT, Unsa, Solidaires, FSU) are calling for a mobilization for Labor Day to make their demands heard: increase in wages and pensions, emphasis on public services, opposition to a postponement of the legal retirement age, ecological transition, “opposition to all forms of discrimination», or even the promotion of peace and international solidarity, in the midst of the Ukrainian conflict.
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“Construction sites», «labors of hercules» according to the employers
If Solidaires welcomed in a press release “of the defeat of the far-right candidate“, the union judges that”the electoral and militant strengthening of the extreme right is linked to the anti-social policies carried out by successive governments“. “Today, Emmanuel Macron begins a new five-year term on the ruins of the old one. […] Even if he has the legality of the ballot box, he has no popular legitimacy to apply his anti-social reforms, starting with that of pensions“, he added.
Same story on the side of the FSU, which “welcomes the fact that the immediate danger of an accession to power by the far right during the presidential election has been averted“, while noting that”the danger continues to be present and the far right to strengthen, election after election“. “It is the liberal policies, their capture of all the wealth produced and their lot of individualization and degradation of living conditions that favor this progress. It is also the rejection of Emmanuel Macron’s balance sheet“, she continues.
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Invited this Monday morning on BFM Business, the general secretary of Force Ouvrière (FO), Yves Veyrier, meanwhile “asked to see“, after Emmanuel Macron promised Sunday evening “a revamped method“, during his victory speech on the Champ-de-Mars in Paris. “I expect the government to listen to what we have to say to it, and to take into account what we say to it“, he declared, in particular on the pension reform, saying he was opposed to the raising of the retirement age to 65 years proposed by the re-elected president.
On the side of the bosses, the president of the Medef Geoffroy Roux de Bézieux brought his “congratulations“to Emmanuel Macron”for his re-election“. “Europe, employment, growth, ecological transition: the sites are ahead of you. It’s urgent ! At Medef, we are ready“, tweeted the boss of bosses.
François Asselin, president of the Confederation of SMEs (CPME), also welcomed to AFP the re-election of Emmanuel Macron, noting “a score rather better than we could have imaginedfor Emmanuel Macron, re-elected with 58.5% of the vote. “The President has before him the labors of Hercules, in that I believe the world has never been as unstable as we know“, he however added, noting that “the question is going to be how to get as many people as possible to accept the reforms that the country needs, without there being any blockages because we need a country that works“.