Hold on, threaten the consequences of the social movement and divide the French.
This is the strategy that the French government seems to have adopted in its communication in this crucial week for pension reform.
While the inter-union calls to put "France at a standstill", Tuesday March 7, to signify once again the opposition of the French to a reform which must reduce from 62 years to 64 years the legal age of departure in retirement, the communication of the executive continues to be challenged and to evolve.
On the demonstrations, on its consequences for women or on the minimum pension of 1,200 euros, a brief overview of the fluctuating assertions of Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne and her government.
From "deep respect for the French who are mobilizing" to the warning
If a "call for responsibility" was launched on January 12 by Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne to "not penalize the French" during the first day of mobilization, on January 19, against the pension reform, the demonstrations are initially welcomed by the government for their smooth running.
"I salute the commitment of the police, like the trade unions, which allowed the demonstrations to take place in good conditions. Allowing opinions to be expressed is essential for democracy", writes Élisabeth Borne on Twitter after the first protest.
I salute the commitment of the police, like the trade unions, which enabled the demonstrations to take place in good conditions.
Allowing opinions to be expressed is essential for democracy.
Let's continue to debate and convince.
— Elisabeth BORNE (@Elisabeth_Borne) January 19, 2023
And on the evening of the second day of mobilization, January 31, the Minister of Public Accounts, Gabriel Attal, expressed on the TF1 set his "deep respect for the French who are mobilizing".
Five weeks later, the tone has changed.
While the inter-union hopes to bring together the largest number of demonstrators in the streets on Tuesday March 7 since the beginning of the movement and to put "France at a standstill", the government is trying to turn public opinion against the strikers.
>> To read: Pensions: is the reform "indispensable", as the government claims?
"When I hear officials explain that they want to block France, in reality, it's the French people they're going to block. When I hear some who say they want to bring the economy to its knees, it's are the workers they are going to bring to their knees. And above all, it is always those who are in the most difficulty. Those who toast in general, it is those who toil, that is to say the French who have to get up in the morning, take their metro, their RER, their car to go to work”, castigates the same Gabriel Attal, Saturday March 4, at the Agricultural Show.
Strike of March 7: "In reality it is the French that they will block" affirms Gabriel Attal pic.twitter.com/UgiecvVyNJ
— BFMTV (@BFMTV) March 4, 2023
The government spokesman, Olivier Véran, goes so far as to warn of serious consequences, in particular ecological, in the event of major strikes on March 7.
"Putting France to a halt would be letting slip a crisis that we can still avoid. The absence of rain for almost thirty days now in France poses an extremely high risk to the state of our water reserves. this summer. To shut down the country is to take the risk of an ecological, agricultural, health or even human disaster in a few months, "he said on March 1 after the Council of Ministers. .
"Putting the country to a halt means taking the risk of an ecological, agricultural, health or even human disaster in a few months"
Olivier Véran warns of the state of water reserves linked to the absence of a plu peak .twitter.com/6M3d5N5m1J
— BFMTV (@BFMTV) March 1, 2023
An assertion quickly mocked by the opposition and the unions.
"The drought is the fault of the unions? The health crisis, ditto? And why not the defeat in the World Cup? Your attempts to discredit an unprecedented mobilization against 64-year-olds are rude", reacted the secretary general of CFDT Laurent Berger on Twitter.
"Waiting for the invasion of grasshoppers, the rain of frogs to add to this staggering list of foreseeable consequences of March 7", also added his counterpart from the CFE-CGC François Hommeril.
>> To read also: Drought in France: with water tables at their lowest, "the coming rains will be insufficient"
From a "social justice" reform to a reform that penalizes women
Beyond the governmental point of view on the days of mobilization against the pension reform, the speech of the executive has also evolved on the very presentation of the reform.
This was presented on January 10 as a reform intended to preserve the balance of the system, but the Prime Minister then insisted above all on the notions of “social justice” and “social progress”.
>> To read: Pension reform: who are the winners and the losers?
But opponents and the media are quick to point out that women should be the big losers from the reform.
"Women are a little penalized by this postponement of age, we absolutely do not disagree. They are a little more impacted", admits moreover the Minister for Relations with Parliament, Franck Riester, on January 23, on LCP.
"Obviously if you postpone the legal age, women are somewhat penalized"
Franck Riester, Minister in charge of Relations with Parliament pic.twitter.com/gBm9vGq7iM
— Elliot Lepers (@ElliotLepers) January 24, 2023
Despite the declarations of her minister, Elisabeth Borne does not change her line and tries to convince that women will win, explaining, on February 2 on France 2, that they will retire on average earlier than men after the reform. , whereas they currently leave later.
However, the Prime Minister is struggling to convince, and for good reason, it is not thanks to the reform that this trend will be reversed.
The 2019 report of the Pensions Orientation Council (COR) already predicted that "for the generations born from the end of the 1970s, women will retire on average a little before men".
Many women worry about the impact of the reform on their retirement.
Until now they left later than the men.
After the reform, they will leave earlier.
They will also be the first beneficiaries of the increase in the minimum pension: pic.twitter.com/t5WxGN93KC
— Elisabeth BORNE (@Elisabeth_Borne) February 2, 2023
During this same program, Élisabeth Borne admits, however, that the reform will penalize the French as a whole: "Asking the French to work gradually longer is an effort and I measure what that means for many French people", admits - she, while maintaining that "if we do not carry out this reform, it is our pay-as-you-go system that will not hold".
Reforming our pension system requires a collective effort.
I understand that this raises concerns, but I also know that the French are attached to our pay-as-you-go system, to solidarity between generations.
If we do nothing, it will not hold.
pic.twitter.com/SyHxO6G2rw
— Elisabeth BORNE (@Elisabeth_Borne) February 2, 2023
A minimum pension of 1,200 euros guaranteed to only 2.5% of future retirees concerned
But the biggest communication hiccup – the biggest lie, accuse the opposition – concerns the minimum pension at 1,200 euros.
While the text of the reform clearly specifies that only people who have had a full career at the minimum wage level will see their pension reach 85% of the minimum wage, i.e. around 1,200 euros, many ministers and deputies suggest in their media appearances that the reform creates a minimum pension for all.
"Two million current retirees who have a pension of less than 1,200 euros will see their pension increased to 1,200 euros gross per month," even said government spokesman Olivier Véran, on January 11, on FranceInfo.
"We wanted to guarantee a minimum pension of 1,200 euros for those with the lowest pension levels",
The fabulous story of the minimum pension at 1200 euros pic.twitter.com/iG8d7dpB11
– Strike funds (@caissesdegreve) February 8, 2023
But several press articles and, above all, the intervention of the economist Michaël Zemmour on France Inter, on February 7, show that this is not the case and the government finds itself in trouble.
The Minister of Labour, Olivier Dussopt, then had great difficulty in quantifying the number of beneficiaries of the pension at 1,200 euros.
"Thanks to this reform, among the current retirees, 1.8 million will benefit from a revaluation of their pension", he explains on February 13 at the National Assembly.
And "we know that of the 800,000 new retirees each year, 200,000 will benefit from a larger pension because of this measure", i.e. a revaluation for a "quarter of new retirees", he assures,
Then, two days later, the minister gives a figure on France Inter: "When I am told how many thanks to this reform will pass the 85% mark of the minimum wage? We have a forecast, it happened to me last night: 40 000 more people each year," says Olivier Dussopt.
.@olivierdussopt: "1.8 million current retirees will see their pensions increase [...] 40,000 more people each year will pass the 85% minimum wage mark [among new retirees]" #le7930inter pic.twitter.com /HxfXcSmtge
– France Inter (@franceinter) February 15, 2023
This figure is disputed the next day by the socialist deputy Jérôme Guedj, who challenges the Minister of Labor at the Palais Bourbon.
The latter refuses to answer him, but in a letter dated February 23 and made public on February 28, Olivier Dussopt revises his estimates downwards, indicating that only 10,000 to 20,000 new retirees each year will see their pension increased to 1,200 euros, i.e. less than 2.5% of future retirees.
So many communication hiccups that are already fueling rumors of a cabinet reshuffle after the pension reform.
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