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The general secretary of the CFDT at the end of a meeting in Matignon on September 5, 2019. FRANCOIS GUILLOT / AFP

The Prime Minister receives on Monday 25 and Tuesday 26 November the unions and employers to review again the pension reform project. A project that arouses the anger of some organizations that call for a day of strike on December 5th. Faced with this coming mobilization, the government intends to show that the social dialogue is continuing, but no one has any illusions about a possible compromise as positions are decided.

If Édouard Philippe reaches out to the unions, nothing indicates that this hand contains new proposals. The government wants to show first that the social dialogue is not broken despite the prospect of a strike on December 5th.

Worse, the tone has hardened on the executive side in recent days, President Macron estimated Friday, November 22 that the strike mobilized above all " employees with special schemes, " to which the Secretary General of the CGT, Philippe Martinez responded Sunday accusing him of wanting to " divide the French ".

The government wants to replace the so-called " special pension schemes ", there are 42 in France, by a universal system. Some unions accuse him of wanting to pull the pension system down.

A clear break with the unions

The fracture with power now seems clear, causing concern. There are the unions - like the CGT - that oppose the very principle of reform and there are those who are there, like the CFDT but his boss Laurent Berger, is also not in the best arrangements. He regretted the vagueness of the government's text and expected clarification. He repeated it: no question, before reform, to extend the contribution period or change the age of departure to save money.

The Prime Minister will certainly try to calm the debate on Monday morning. He will first receive the Medef, the employers' union, then the CFTC, the CFDT and Force Ouvrière, before meeting Tuesday, the U2P, the CFE-CGC and finally the CGT, Philippe Martinez having confirmed his presence.

The lines will probably not move until the December 5 strike, which may serve to clarify the balance of power.