A week before the May 1 demonstrations, which the unions hope will be historic, the tone does not drop at the CGT. “As long as we do not withdraw this reform, it will be difficult to regain relations of trust”, warned the new general secretary of the trade union organization, Sophie Binet, at the microphone of BFMTV Monday morning. The successor to Philippe Martinez criticized the “total hypocrisy” of the President of the Republic, who declared in an interview with Le Parisien his “desire to work with all the unions, including the CGT”, despite their refusal to go to the ‘Élysée last Tuesday.
These invitations from the executive to renew the dialogue come too late, according to Sophie Binet. “The government refused for six months to hear the unions’ proposals to finance our pension scheme and refused to meet with us when asked to do so,” she denounced. The secretary general of the CGT indicated that the resumption of discussions would be decided “in inter-union”.
The general secretary of the CGT declared that her organization did not endorse the expression of “decency period” used by Laurent Berger, before recalling her intact determination to see the pension reform withdrawn. Sophie Binet nevertheless expressed herself on the subjects that Emmanuel Macron wants to submit to the unions, describing them as “divisive”. Like the government proposal for an RSA under conditions which appears to him as a “stigmatization of the unemployed and the precarious”.
The CGT Energy called over the weekend to carry out a “grévilla” against the pension reform in the coming weeks. “The time is far from being resigned”, specified a press release, which also threatened major events to come such as Roland-Garros or the Cannes Film Festival. The CGT Energy Federation is accused of having cut off the power to a clinic in Hérault near the high school where Emmanuel Macron was visiting last Thursday. “The clinic’s power cut is not the CGT at all,” defended Sophie Binet, who also explained that “power cuts demonstrate the extent of anger in our country. “.
