President Emmanuel Macron invited unions and employers to meet him Tuesday at the Elysee, "regardless of the decision of the Constitutional Council" on the disputed pension reform, the presidency announced on April 14.

"This will necessarily be the beginning of a cycle that the president and the government will continue in the coming weeks with the social partners. The door of the Elysee will remain open, without preconditions, for this dialogue, "said the entourage of the head of state, who provides for a rapid promulgation of the text if it is validated.

The invitation was issued. Emmanuel Macron has therefore taken care to propose this meeting even before the Constitutional Council makes public its decision on the project to postpone from 62 to 64 years of the retirement age.

Continue the "fight"

The unions, which have so far presented a united front against this reform, said Thursday that they intended to continue the "fight", even if validated by the Sages, especially during the traditional demonstrations of May 1.

They continue to demand the withdrawal or non-application of retirement at age 64, when the executive wants to talk about other topics around living conditions and remuneration at work.

The secretary general of the CFDT Laurent Berger had said Thursday that the president must respect a "period of decency" before trying to resume dialogue with the social partners.

The new number one of the CGT Sophie Binet had suggested that the unions would be reluctant to meet the head of state if he promulgated the law before receiving them. But the Elysee said that if the text is validated, Emmanuel Macron should promulgate it in "the following days, as is customary for the President of the Republic who promulgates all the laws since 2017 the next day or the day after".

The unions had asked to be received by the Head of State during the examination of the reform in Parliament, but the latter had postponed a possible appointment after the decision of the Wise Men.

With AFP

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