Paris (AFP)

Emmanuel Macron reaffirmed his determination to "carry out the pension reform" during his wishes to the French on Tuesday, while urging the government to "find a quick compromise", as the strike enters its 28th day on Wednesday.

"I understand how the decisions taken can offend and cause fear and opposition," admitted the president, in a sober tone.

"Do we have to give up changing our country, our daily life? No. Because it would be abandoning those whom the system has already abandoned, it would be betraying our children, their children after them, who would then have to pay the price of our This is why the pension reform will be completed, "he added.

The head of state did not mention the pivotal age, which the CFDT made a "red line", despite the call of fifteen members of the majority in a press gallery on Tuesday.

On the other hand, he confirmed an opening on another subject defended by the CFDT: the question of arduousness, promising to take "into account the difficult tasks to allow those who exercise them to leave earlier without this being linked to a status. or a business. "

Is this sufficient to obtain the lifting of the strike? "With the trade unions who want it, I expect the government of Edouard Philippe to find the way to a rapid compromise," ruled Emmanuel Macron.

"I don't have the impression that there is a lot of room for negotiation", reacted immediately on the set of BFMTV the number 1 of Force Ouvrière, Yves Veyrier, on the initiative of the strike movement with the CGT, Solidaires and the FSU since December 5.

"These apparently generous formulas are the ones that we have been harping on for two and a half years," he continued, saying that "they have not succeeded in convincing or winning membership".

"These are not wishes but a declaration of war on the millions of French people who refuse his reform. All the rest of his speech sounds false and hollow," tweeted Jean-Luc Mélenchon (LFI).

For Fabien Roussel (PCF), the president "chose the showdown. It is therefore a call for total mobilization!"

On the eve of New Years, the conflict still seems hopeless, while consultation between Édouard Philippe and the unions must resume on January 7.

- Transport still very disrupted -

Traffic will remain disrupted at SNCF on Wednesday with one TGV in three, four TER in ten, one Transilien in five and one Intercité in ten. The improvement will be noticeable on Thursday, and especially on the weekend after the holidays, when the SNCF has indicated that it intends to operate 2 TGVs out of 3. The company also announced for Tuesday a rate of strikers of 7.7% and more than a third among drivers.

The RATP is counting on traffic still "very disrupted" on Wednesday with 8 metro lines completely closed. For New Year's Eve, the automatic lines 1 and 14 will run until 2:15 a.m. (last departures at 1:45 a.m.) and the Noctilien bus lines will be "strongly reinforced" (+ 50%). Like every year, transportation is free all night in Ile-de-France.

Regarding refineries, the CGT Federation of Chemistry called for a blockage of all petroleum installations - refineries, petroleum terminals, deposits - for 96 hours, from January 7 to 10, announced to AFP Thierry Defresne, central union representative at Total.

The movement remains supported by a majority of French people (51%), while since the presentation of the reform project by Jean-Paul Delevoye this summer, questions have multiplied on a reform whose impact for everyone is uncertain, notably lack to know how will be fixed the value of the point which will govern the future system.

Between the succinct and optimistic simulators of the government and those of the left who predict many losers or a boulevard open to pension funds, hard to see clearly.

Another source of questions: the concessions granted in recent days to a dozen categories, ranging from police to airline pilots, including sailors and opera dancers who will keep special regimes for a long time. Enough to say to the right that the reform, emptied of its content, becomes categorical.

The transport strike could continue until negotiations resume. In this case, it will reach Thursday, with 29 days, the record for the longest strike at SNCF in 30 years.

© 2019 AFP