“You have to see this event as a start,” said François Hommeril, president of the CFE-CGC, at the head of the Parisian procession. From Tuesday, a new page will begin to be written between the executive and the inter-union. Until May 1, the watchword was clear: “We are not talking about anything except pensions”, the various trade unionists kept rehashing. The latter wanted at all costs to prevent the government from moving the social discontent to other subjects before Labor Day, which was erected as the ultimate show of force.
Based on their first feedback from the field, the number ones in the leading square were confident about the level of mobilization. “It’s going to be a historic day, assured Frédéric Souillot, of FO, especially for a three-day weekend.”
Even if successful, however, the time has come for the social partners to put an end to this strategy. The famous “decency period” demanded by the trade unionists has now expired, and in view of the many burning issues on which the executive wants to move forward with the social partners, the strategy of silence would quickly have been untenable. Especially since “we are in a position of strength”, maintains, lucid, the president of the CFE-CGC.
The CFDT and the CFTC in particular have therefore announced that they will resume language with the government. The latter should not wait very long before sending invitations for a new meeting at Matignon. They will leave “in the coming days”, confirmed the Minister of Labor, Olivier Dussopt, this morning, on BFM.
But be careful, dialogue is not capitulation, warn the members of the inter-union in chorus. “There is no longer any justification for this reform”, assures Sophie Binet. “The last was financial, but Fitch has just sanctioned the government”, adds the number one of the CGT, referring to the degradation of the French sovereign rating. “You can ask me the question in ten years, I will tell you again that this reform is bad”, abounds Laurent Berger, for the CFDT.
Discussions or not, the opponents have therefore ticked several boxes on their agenda, starting with May 3, the date on which the Constitutional Council must give its answer on the second proposal for a referendum of shared initiative (RIP). But also on June 8, when the Liot parliamentary group will submit its bill to raise the retirement age to 62.
Some do not rule out relaunching calls to mobilize, including among the most reformist. “I don’t think May 1 will be the last day of action, bet Cyril Chabanier, of the CFTC. Personally, I am in favor of organizing a date around June 8. The strikes could also continue with the blessing of the inter-union. “We continue to support all actions decided locally,” adds the secretary general. An opinion shared by Laurent Berger: “We will discuss again, but the fight for pensions is not over. This reform is a scotch that will stick to the coattails of the government.
In addition, the return to the negotiating table is not a blank check given to the government. The unions have warned that they are waiting for guarantees in terms of room for maneuver and method of consultation. A new meeting of the intersyndicale must therefore take place quickly to detail the place it will occupy in this new chapter.
