The historic image was expected. The leaders of the eight trade union organizations side by side. Shortly after the press conference of the Prime Minister, Elisabeth Borne, during which she presented the pension reform, they were all together, Tuesday evening, January 10, in the large hall of the Labor Exchange, place de the Republic, in Paris, to launch the union opposition to the government’s project.
It was Laurent Berger, head of the CFDT, France’s leading trade union, who took the floor, surrounded by Philippe Martinez, general secretary of the CGT, Frédéric Souillot, general secretary of FO, Cyril Chabanier, president of the CFTC , François Hommeril, president of the CFE-CGC, Laurent Escure, secretary general of the UNSA, as well as Benoît Teste, head of the FSU, and Simon Duteil and Murielle Guilbert, co-secretaries general of Solidaires.
Laurent Berger read a joint statement denouncing a reform “which will hit all workers hard” and announced a first day of strike and interprofessional mobilization, Thursday, January 19, to fight against the pension reform. The beginning of a movement that promises to be long, since this date, the trade unions hope, “gives the start of a powerful mobilization on long-term pensions”, according to the press release. The inter-union has already planned to meet on the evening of January 19 with youth organizations “to extend the mobilization movement and agree on other initiatives”.
The unions had been waving the threat of this social conflict for months. Nevertheless, it was enough to see the number of journalists present in the room to understand that an event was taking place “exceptional”as Cyril Chabanier called it.
More than twelve years after the last inter-union, which met against Nicolas Sarkozy’s pension reform pushing back the legal retirement age from 60 to 62, all the centrals insisted on hammering home, once again, their profound disagreement with the government’s plan to push back the legal retirement age to 64 and to speed up the Touraine reform, which provides for the extension of the contribution period. “The postponement of the legal age of departure is the most unfair measure there is, it is normal for the trade unions to mobilize”hammered Laurent Berger.
Determination “to bend the government”
All the union leaders have been very clear about the only way out of the conflict: the withdrawal of the postponement of the retirement age and that of the acceleration of the Touraine reform. “The fact that all the unions are united shows the extent of employee discontent”said Philippe Martinez, recalling his determination “to bend the government”.
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