The social partners are preparing their response: all the national unions meet, Monday, December 8, at the headquarters of the FSU, in Les Lilas (Seine-Saint-Denis), to consult on the response to be given to the pension reform, whose outlines the government must announce in mid-December.

This inter-union will bring together the CFDT, the CGT, FO, the CFE-CGC, the CFTC, the Unsa, Solidaires and the FSU.

"We will [...] continue to play the game of consultation. And then, it is clear, if there is a postponement of the legal retirement age, today, like yesterday, like the day before yesterday, the CFDT will oppose and it will oppose by all means, and in particular we will try to oppose it in an inter-union way. It is clear, net, precise, "said, Friday, the secretary General of the CFDT, Laurent Berger, on the sidelines of the launch of the Assises du travail in Paris.

Don't "leave too soon"

For the eight unions, the challenge is to present a common front to oppose the government but also to find the right tempo to mobilize.

For Laurent Berger, "the meeting is when the text will be presented to the Council of Ministers, it seems to me around January 10 or 11".

During the meeting of its national confederal committee in mid-November, the CGT had approved a text affirming that it would be able to "mobilize immediately in the event of a forced passage of the government".

But the central Montreuil would rather prepare to go into action in January, according to a union official.

>> See also: Pensions in France, the impossible reform?

We must "not leave too early, because the risk is to be weak, it is not to have aroused enough mobilization, explanation", pleaded at the beginning of the week Benoît Teste, secretary general of the FSU, stressing that it is "difficult to mobilize just before the holidays".

An application "from summer 2023"

This meeting comes at a time when the timetable is accelerating even if for the moment the contours of the future reform remain to be clarified.

In an interview with Le Parisien published on December 1, the Prime Minister however confirmed the track of a "progressive postponement" to "65 years by 2031" allowing "to bring the system back to equilibrium within ten years".

In return, the head of government gave pledges to the unions, announcing the maintenance of "the age of cancellation of the discount" at 67 as today, as well as "the system of long careers" which allows those who started working before the age of 20 to retire earlier.

>> To read on France24.com: Pension reform: the puzzle of the low employment rate of seniors

But "we can discuss" of "another way", assures Élisabeth Borne, while excluding from the outset "to lower the amount of pensions or to increase the cost of labor by additional contributions".

"No one is happy to work a little longer, but in order not to lower pensions and not to put new burdens on our children, we will have to make an effort", also estimated Emmanuel Macron on December 3 in an interview given since United States.

The first generation affected by the reform will be that of 1961, said the executive.

It will then be put in place gradually from the summer of 2023 to affect all employees in 2031.

Stormy debates in perspective at the Assembly

Beyond these announcements, no working document has yet been distributed to the social partners, unlike the first two rounds of consultation.

Contacted, the Ministry of Labor ensures that a document of this type will be well versed in the debate, without specifying when.

Once past the meetings with the unions, the Prime Minister should unveil the main lines of the reform on December 15.

Just before the Christmas holidays, a period not conducive to the mobilization of employees.

A calendar sharply criticized by the opposition to the image of Sandrine Rousseau.

"December 15, just before the confectioners' truce, in the middle of the end-of-year celebrations. In the only moment of breathing for months. We will not forget your methods", was indignant on Twitter the ecologist deputy.

December 15, just before the confectioners' break, in the middle of the end-of-year celebrations.

In the only moment of breathing for months.


Your methods will not be forgotten.

https://t.co/fEvGfTD4Lt

— Sandrine Rousseau (@sandrousseau) December 1, 2022

For her part, the president of the LFI group in the National Assembly Mathilde Panot promised on December 2 to roll back the government "in the hemicycle or in the street".

Claiming the right to "obstruction", the group could bring down a shower of amendments during the examination of the text.

To pass this unpopular reform, the government is counting in particular on the support of Republicans traditionally in favor of a pension reform pushing back the legal retirement age.

Parliament's consideration of the government's bill is expected to take place in the spring of 2023.

With AFP

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