“The little pensioner is still in the shit”: faced with anger, the ministers opt for pedagogy

Lionel Gougelot (in Orchies), edited by Laura Laplaud 9:16 a.m., January 21, 2023

The government occupies the ground to ensure the after-sales service of the pension reform.

Pedagogy, explanation and conviction... The ministers have their roadmap.

Olivier Véran, the government spokesperson, was for example in the North on Friday, meeting retirees face to face in a communal home in Orchies, to convince that beyond the extension of working hours, this reform also includes social provisions such as a minimum pension of 1,200 euros.

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“We must correct injustices”

"We consider that on the occasion of this reform, we must correct injustices", affirms Olivier Véran in front of a small assembly of modest retirees, with pensions well below 1,000 euros, working lives with meager salaries like Liliane, 65, who survives on 900 euros a month.

"It's fine, the government has granted a few euros more on retirement, but I am a tenant and the few euros of APL are decreasing. So excuse me for telling you this with crude words, the little pensioner is always in the shit", throws it to him.

Olivier Véran tries to reassure

A small smile from the government spokesperson who hastens to reassure the sixty-something.

The reform will guarantee him the famous minimum income of 1,200 euros.

"It is normal that when you are retired, you can live off your retirement and not depend on alms. You have worked all your life so that is why we are correcting this injustice and this inequality" , he says.

An explanatory exercise in front of a globally conquered audience.

Michèle, 62, leaves the meeting reassured about her fate, while understanding those who are marching against the postponement of retirement at 64.