They hope to maintain the mobilization during this period of school holidays. Unions opposed to the pension reform are organizing a tenth inter-professional day of demonstrations on Thursday, while the project continues its heckled examination in the National Assembly.
"There is no outpouring of honor, we will not give up because we are convinced of the correctness of our analysis, of the danger that this project represents for the decades to come," insisted Monday Yves Veyrier, the secretary general of FO. At his side there will be the CGT, Solidaires, the FSU, as well as youth organizations (Fidl, MNL, UNL) and student organizations (Unef), which have been leading the slingshot since December 5.
Events all over France
Yves Veyrier however recognized that mobilizing was "more difficult" after two and a half months of demonstrations. A new inter-union meeting is scheduled for the end of the day to decide on the next steps. Events are organized all over France. In Paris, the procession will leave at midday from Montparnasse, direction Porte d'Italie.
Meanwhile, employers and unions are asserting their positions in the pension financing conference, initially proposed by the CFDT and which should lead to proposals by the end of April to bring the pension system back to balance in 2027. One of the reasons for the tensions is explained by the constrained framework imposed by the government which prohibits increase in contributions or decrease in pensions.
The positions of the social partners diverge in particular on the amount of the deficit mentioned in the documents sent this week by the conference leaders. According to the latter, if nothing is done, the cumulative deficit between 2018 and 2030 could reach 113 billion euros.
A "counter-conference"
A new meeting is due to take place in the morning on Thursday, but it deals with the financing and governance of the system in the long term. For the rest, the CGT threatens to slam the door. The unions opposed to the reform are therefore working on a "counter-conference", whose work could start in March, according to Solidaires.
Eyes riveted on the cumulative deficit of 113 billion, Geoffroy Roux de Bézieux, the boss of Medef, said on Wednesday in Les Echos favorable to "recovery measures". To bring the system to balance in 2027, as the government wishes, the pivotal age - below you cannot leave with a full retirement - is "the right measure".
For him, moreover, the subject of arduousness "should have come out of the pension debate". Not to the taste of Laurent Berger who, on the contrary, conditions the "balance" of the reform to the addition of "elements on the arduousness". Otherwise the project "would not be fair", has already warned the secretary general of the CFDT.
Almost normal traffic
At the National Assembly where the deputies must parse some 41,000 amendments, the discussions started Monday in the hemicycle, in a rowdy atmosphere and as of Wednesday, the examination turned to blockage. If the opponents bet on the demonstrations Thursday, strike side the time is on the lull.
In transport, the RATP is counting on “normal” traffic, with “disturbances on the RER B” on the SNCF part north of the line. At SNCF, "there will be almost no impact except in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, where there will be two out of five trains between Montluçon and Clermont," said SNCF management at AFP.
During the 9th day of mobilization, on February 6, the Ministry of the Interior had counted 121,000 people throughout France, including 15,000 in Paris, an increase in participation compared to the previous day of mobilization, on January 30 (108,000 in France and 13,000 in Paris).
Politics
Pension reform: Examination of the law turns to a deadlock in the Assembly
Politics
VIDEO. Pension reform: CGT announces that it is leaving the financing conference
- Pension reform
- Retirement
- Demonstration
- Society
- Union