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French Prime Minister Édouard Philippe speaking on television on December 6, 2019. REUTERS / Benoit Tessier

Consultations at Matignon and meeting at the Elysee Palace, a showdown in the press ... The executive is active to save its pension reform, threatened by a massive social movement.

" If we do not do a progressive reform now, someone else will make it a real brutal tomorrow. In the JDD this Sunday , Prime Minister Philippe Philippe plays the card of the responsibility by presenting this reform as inevitable, but also of softness, by promising " extremely positive answers " for " those who undergo injustices " . And to quote women, farmers, and those with chopped courses. Despite the calculations of the unions , which believe that women and precarious will suffer the full impact of the introduction of a pension points and the calculation of pensions over the entire career.

Philippe Martinez : " We will keep until the withdrawal of the reform project "

The general secretary of the CGT, Philippe Martinez, interviewed in the same newspaper, judge that the anger is great. Evidenced by the massive mobilization at the protest last Thursday . He also feels that the government is disconnected from the realities of the French.

Firmness on the principles, answers the Prime Minister, but flexibility on certain points - for example, the calendar. The government has already said it is open to a long transition with a shift to the new system over a decade or more.

No question, asserts Philippe Martinez, who refuses to sacrifice the retirement of his grandchildren to save that of the current generations. And to warn: " We will keep until the withdrawal of the reform project. "

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