After the Paris transport Friday, almost all French courts sounded hollow Monday, September 16. Thousands of lawyers from several bars throughout France have indeed made an appointment in Paris, place of the Opera - black world, and not only because of the procession of togas - to manifest until Nation against the new pension system wanted by the government. They were accompanied by liberal care professionals (doctors, speech therapists, physiotherapists ...) and air transport (pilots, hostesses and stewards).
All marched together to "denounce the project of capturing without summation of their autonomous retirement plans", as explained by the collective SOS Retraites - composed of 14 liberal professions - in a tribune at the Journal du Dimanche. The future "universal system" points must indeed melt the autonomous regimes in the general system, each "euro contribution" to give "the same rights to all", explained in July the High Commissioner for pensions, Jean-Paul Delevoye . As a result, the stocks held by the CNAVPL (the national pension insurance fund for the liberal professions) are at stake, namely the 22 billion euros contributed, set aside by the liberal professionals.
"Under the pretext of reform, we want to steal our pot [the 2 billion euros in financial reserves of the National Bar Fund, different from the CNAVPL, Ed] and multiply our contributions by two," says André, a lawyer at the bar from Paris, interviewed by France 24. In the profession for 47 years, he is worried that this reform could see the day because, in this perspective, "lots of lawyers will have to change jobs".
Many of her confreres and sisters met on the Place de l'Opera share her concerns, like Caroline, who came from Marseille to protest. "We want to end our autonomous regime and include ourselves in the general system, but we will lose on both counts," says this lawyer, who has been practicing since 2001. "With this reform, our contributions will be doubled and our basic pension will be lowered. "
"If this reform happens tomorrow, I close my office"
In the crowd, the black dresses of the palace blend with the suits of the pilots and the white coats of the liberal care professionals. The whistles are heard, the megaphones sirens too. A woman proudly holds at arm's length a placard on which one can read: "I have contributed, provided for all my life, No to the racket of my retirement."
The end of autonomous regimes, specific to each profession present at the event, is a concern that comes up in the majority of cases. Grégoire Aplincourt, president of the Air France Pilots Union (SPAF), denounces in the intentions of the government "a mix of genres that will overthrow the pension reform." "The complementary retirement, explains this airline pilot for 20 years, these are insurance for which it is levied each month, it has nothing to do with pensions.What is proposed, it is called the collective farm: puts the economies of all the autonomous funds together in one basket. "
The future "universal system", advocated by the High Commissioner for pensions Jean-Paul Delevoye, would amount to "what we lose 20 to 40% of our pensions," said Grégoire Aplincourt. Marie, a speech therapist met in the procession, is also worried about the increase of her contributions, but especially for the future of her profession. "If this reform happens tomorrow, I close my office," says one who has been working for 14 years. "We are currently at 14% contributions and we want to increase to 28%, but this will multiply our current contributions by four, so we will not be able to keep up financially and we will not be able to increase our rates [regulated by the Primary Health Insurance Fund, Ed]. "
Marie fears above all that, in the longer term, she must be deconvened, that is to say freely fix the fees she charges to her customers. "That would mean in the end two-tier care, and first and foremost for those who could afford it," she says.
"We are going towards a huge social conflict if nothing changes"
Lawyers, meanwhile, fear that the most disadvantaged litigants suffer the reform advocated by the executive. "This reform is more fair but will create greater disparities," says Caroline, the lawyer Marseille. "This will pose a problem of access to the law for the poorest, because the activity of the lawyers who defend them will be threatened.The individual firms with less than 40 000 euros per year will be strongly affected, and this is the most of the lawyers in this case, we are not well off, as we might think. "
Nanti. The word also comes back in the mouth of a liberal doctor. "Our profession is very up, but there, the government will make us pass for the haves with the other French while we work a lot elsewhere", explains François Honorat, member of the union The Bloc. Anesthetist since 1985, he does not want to touch the funds of the Autonomous Pension Fund of doctors in France (a professional section of the CNAVPL) which has 7 billion euros in reserve. According to him, "this reform is completely unfair.It is the principle of the cicada and the ant: the government wants to divert the fruit of our savings to the coffers that have no own funds."
The High Commissioner for pensions, Jean-Paul Delevoye, said on September 12 want "to try to remove the unjustified concerns", speaking of "solutions for each profession (concerned by the future reform)". These discussions are expected by several protesters, such as Marie, the speech therapist, who wants "the government become aware of the absurdity of this law, each job has its own specificities."
The tone of people crossed Place Opera is also sometimes firmer. "In the state (government announcements), we go to a huge social conflict if nothing changes," said Grégoire Aplincourt. Marie said she was "skeptical" about the upcoming talks, recalling that it had been "a failure" for the reform of justice. And she adds: "When we hear about negotiations and consultation with the government, we do not trust."