Barthélémy Philippe / Photo credit: Andrea Savorani Neri / NurPhoto / NurPhoto via AFP 07:22, May 18, 2023

Elisabeth Borne has just completed a cycle of meetings with the country's main trade union organisations to discuss pension reform but also the unions' demands on work and wages. The Prime Minister is now preparing to meet with employers' organisations.

Yesterday, the Prime Minister concluded her cycle of bilateral meetings with key trade union leaders by receiving Sophie Binet, General Secretary of the CGT in Matignon. Previously, she had met with François Hommeril, the boss of the CFE CGC, and Cyril Chabanier, president of the CFTC. They discussed together the pension reform but also the unions' demands on work and wages. What can we expect from now on after this round table?

Renewing social dialogue

After reconnecting with the unions, Elisabeth Borne intends to receive the employers' organizations at Matignon next week. Then, the Prime Minister wants to leave the hand to the social partners to negotiate on wages and working conditions before defining a social agenda that will bring concrete progress for employees.

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"The trade unions have told us that they want to leave social dialogue in their rightful place. The government is very much in that mindset. And we want us to be able to organize a multilateral meeting with trade unions and employers' organizations," she said.

The refractory CGT

Like the CFDT, the reformist unions seem ready to participate provided that their proposals on wages or the revision of work orders are on the table.

On the other hand, Sophie Binet's CGT could skip the appointment: "The proposal was to organize a multilateral with the President or the Prime Minister. I said very precisely, it is that I did not see the use if there were no announcements on the issue of pensions or on salary increases."

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On the sidelines of these discussions, the unions are continuing the fight for pensions. They are calling for a new day of mobilization on June 6, 48 hours before the Assembly examines the Liot Group's bill to repeal the reform.