The French unions continue to escalate, and confirm that “the matter is not over” in their battle against the decree amending the retirement system, and the General Federation of Labor describes the decision as “disgraceful.”
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President Emmanuel Macron prepares to address the French
French media said that President Emmanuel Macron is preparing to address the French, on Monday, after the publication of the decree amending the retirement system, which provides for raising the retirement age to 64 years, and is unpopular.
And after the Constitutional Council’s decision to ratify the text, on Friday, the unions “officially” asked the French President, Emmanuel Macron, who had fifteen days to activate the text, “not to issue the law.”
Today, Saturday, Sophie Binet, Secretary General of the General Confederation of Labor, “CGT”, condemned the decision to amend the retirement system, describing it as “disgraceful”, while her counterpart in the French Democratic Confederation of Labor, Laurent Berger, expressed his regret for the “contempt for workers.”
“The desire to move quickly seems like a provocation,” said Frédéric Soyo of the Manpower Union.
The head of the Socialist Party, Olivier Faure, confirmed that issuing the text quickly indicates “contempt”, vowing to bring about “democratic harassment” in order to reverse the raising of the retirement age from 62 to 64 years.
For their part, the unions, united against this reform three months ago, confirmed that “the matter is not over” yet, and it will not be easy to re-establish contact with them. And one of those close to Macron admitted that this “will leave resentment and scars.”
In a meeting they held in the evening, the unions confirmed that the Constitutional Council’s rejection of six of the reform provisions (especially those related to the employment of the elderly) made this text “unfair in the first place…more dysfunctional.”
The decision of the Constitutional Council was met with resentment and anger through mass gatherings in the country, which sometimes led to violent demonstrations. In Paris, 112 people were arrested, according to the police.
The main parties in the opposition confirmed that they are determined to continue their battle against the decision, and the leader of the radical left, Jean-Luc Melenchon, said that “the struggle continues,” referring to a “decisive Labor Day.”
And the leader of the far-right, Marine Le Pen, confirmed that “the political fate of reforming the pension system has not yet been decided,” noting that the implementation of the reform “will witness the final break between the French people and Emmanuel Macron.”
The Socialist deputies and senators announced their intention to submit a legislative text calling for the abolition of the pension reform.
France adopts the lowest retirement age in European countries, and the executive authority justifies its project by the need to address the financial deterioration of pension funds and the aging population, but opponents see it as “unfair”, especially for women and workers in hard jobs.