Rennes (AFP)

"Embarking until age 64 is not even possible". Seafarers from the world of merchant fishing intend to defend their pension scheme, "the oldest but most egalitarian system", and will be mobilized on Tuesday for the new day of action.

The two main unions in the sector, CFDT and CGT, are on the same line regarding the retirement age: "we want to keep leaving at 55 after 37.5 years of contributions (...) with the same status at sea and on land ", explains to AFP Thierry Le Guével, secretary general of the Union Fédérale Maritime (UFM) CFDT.

The government "was talking about counting only the time spent at sea (for the calculation of pensions, note). That would make us leave at 70! We want to keep our system (...) Embarking up to 64 years, c "is not even possible", says Pierrick Samson, new secretary general of the National Federation of Maritime Unions (FNSM) CGT.

The UFM CFDT calls in a leaflet for mobilization on Tuesday and "wishes to affirm its attachment to a universal pension plan which is fair and united taking fully into account all the specificities of the seafaring profession", like the FNSM CGT which calls all the sailors "to mobilize from December 17, in the actions of renewable strike, in the demonstrations, to proclaim loud and clear: Macron-Delevoye, your retirement project, it's not !!!".

Concretely the embarked sailors cannot go on strike, "if only for safety reasons". But "all the ports will be on strike from the 17th, except Marseille which will start on the 18th", indicates the CGT official, hoping that the movement will last until the 19th, the date on which a new meeting is planned in Paris with the authorities .

- "84 hours per week" -

"We have the oldest but most egalitarian system (...) We also want to be reassured about survivors' pensions", explains Thierry Le Guével, recalling in passing that the seafaring profession "is ten times more accident-prone than the BTP ". On this subject, "the means are not put in prevention", he estimates.

Regarding the deficit in this pension system, he considers that "the real problem is the exemption from charges which employers benefit from".

"If there were more French sailors, there would be more contributions", adds Pierrick Samson, according to which "many maritime schools have closed and there are no longer enough young people trained". As an example, he cites the shipping company CMA / CGM which, he says, has "a lot of trouble recruiting French officers".

Finally, the CFDT recalls that "the Transport Code requires seafarers to derogate from the Labor Code (...): possibility of working 14 hours a day, 84 hours a week, postponement to six months of weekly rest possible, minimum 48 hours of work per week (...) In 17 years, a seafarer is available to his employer more than an employee of the general scheme who would have worked 1,607 hours per year for 42 years ", which means that his rights upon retirement "are calculated on the basis of a lump sum salary linked to the position held".

"If it were necessary to align the retirement of seafarers with that of the general system, it would also be necessary to align the working conditions applicable to seafarers with those of the general system, which would paralyze all maritime economic activity," added the union.

In total, according to the CFDT, 37,000 people, excluding retirees, are subject to the ENIM scheme, the public establishment which manages the special social security scheme for seafarers.

© 2019 AFP