The president takes breast for his retirement reform. The French Government takes out the wallet so that the strike is not spread, starting with the police. Unions take out the catalog of support actions, refinery blockade, for example. Ninth day of strike.

Emmanuel Macron had not said a word about the mother of all the reforms that gave his mandate the reforming character with which he arrived at the Elisha and with which he hopes to repeat. While his prime minister fits the criticism.

This afternoon, in Brussels, at the end of the European Council, he defended his project, answered by the unions with a hard transport strike. "It is a reform of refoundation before anything else. A reform of transformation of our system whose strength will be seen over time. A historical reform ... That France needs."

In Paris, the executive has granted the police everything they wanted. After a meeting on Thursday afternoon between the four unions, Interior Minister Christophe Castaner and the senior commissioner for retirement, Jean Paul Delevoye, have suspended their blackout .

They may continue to retire at age 57 and the bonus of an extra five-year contribution will be maintained for every five years worked. As this last benefit is justified in the danger , the Government was going to put two conditions: to have worked 27 years and that the destiny has risk. Forgotten The bonus will be maintained for "all police officers regardless of their employment". In the offices, as in the street.

The Government reculates

After a mini strike of heat in the identity checks of the airports and that more than a thousand of riot police will declare themselves "sick" , the Government has recited. The agreement will be finalized in the next few days. But it is on track.

The police unions have taken the measure to the Government. A year ago, in the climax of the yellow vests , they obtained a salary increase. And in September, they were paid part of the many extra hours worked.

The next union that will receive bonus will be that of the professors , which adds 870,000 employees. The education minister, Jean Michel Blanquer, has begun to receive the unions. So that the new system does not lower their pensions, the Government promised to raise their salaries. We are talking about 10,000 million, according to union estimates.

This negotiation will go a little slower. Teachers join the strike (in reduced percentages) on demonstration days.

The transport is still stopped

And the unions? They maintain the strike of the transport that has to France with only a quarter of high-speed trains and to Paris, almost without subway. And multiply the actions that sound like threat. Today half of the eight refineries in France were on strike.

Companies and unions disagreed about how much work was done and whether or not fuel came out of the affected centers. The reality is that only 1.6% of gas stations in France have run out of some type of fuel.

The strike seems firm on the railroad. And hard unions declare themselves willing to continue even at Christmas. But they will have to measure their strength well. Because unemployment is sustained by train drivers: today, the ninth day of the conflict, 66.8% went on strike according to the SNCF address. In the payroll as a whole, the strikers are only 13.3%.

Obviously, without train drivers the trains don't work. But the first day they stopped 85.7%; on Thursday, 71.6; Friday, there were five points less. However, the situation is expected to be similar over the weekend . In fact, until Tuesday and its manifestations that will allow measuring the forces, nothing will change.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

Know more

  • France
  • Paris
  • Emmanuel Macron
  • Yellow vests

FranceThe strike that paralyzes France, in 7 questions

Strike Macron's pension reform splits France in two

PensionsThe French Prime Minister puts gasoline on strike despite making concessions