Barthélémy Philippe, edited by Loane Nader 06h17, March 16, 2023

While the reform bill could be adopted in Parliament this Thursday, the protest movement is running out of steam. While the unions agree to follow up on the protests if the bill is finally adopted, not all expect such an outcome of the votes.

On Wednesday, March 15, demonstrators against the pension reform walked the streets of France for the eighth mobilization. While the text could be adopted this Thursday in Parliament, attendance at the last mobilization is very far from the record of March 7.

Nevertheless, the leaders of the inter-union agree that there will be a continuation of the movement, even if the text is adopted by a vote of the Assembly and the Senate. But Philippe Martinez and Laurent Berger do not approach this scenario of the vote in the same way at all. For the latter, there is no question of calling into question the verdict of parliamentary democracy, provided only that the text is adopted in the rules of the art, that is to say without recourse to Article 49.3.

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"If adoption is done by 49.3, there is a democratic vice that will cause resentment and anger. It will not be the same if there is a vote that is a majority fact and that will be imposed on all. At that time, we will decide together how we mobilize in the weeks and months to come to make the voice of work heard, but it will probably take other forms, "says the secretary general of the CFDT.

Philippe Martinez does not hold the same speech. For him, the reform would not have much more legitimacy after a favourable vote in Parliament: "This project is bad and if it becomes a law, it will always be bad. 92% of workers do not want it. We are democrats, we listen to what is happening. Just because you are elected does not mean you do what you want for five years. An elected official who no longer takes into account what his voters think, it is a form of democracy that I do not share.", indignant the number one of the CGT.

In a few hours, the leaders of the inter-union will meet in front of the National Assembly where they will speak for the last time, before the potential adoption of the pension reform.