Pensions: the government faces the unknown of the continuation of the mobilization
Of course, the government like Emmanuel Macron would like to be in “post-retirement”. And quick. Except that until then there are still a few steps and not necessarily the easiest. There is this new day of mobilization this Tuesday for which the secretary general of the CFDT, Laurent Berger, called on France Inter on Monday for the French to “protest massively”.
It will be one “of the most difficult days we have known”, agreed Sunday on France 3 the Minister of Transport, Clément Beaune, with a black day expected in transport and strikes also in national education energy, refineries, truck drivers, etc.
Mayonnaise and inflation
But there is above all the sequel and it is she who worries within the executive… “There, it is the unknown, we don’t know damn anything, loose a government source. We have to keep the same attitude: we know that there will be a big day of mobilization. But we must rather look at the continuity of the strike than at “D-Day”. »
And the same source to continue: “The problem is not so much the 2 million people in the streets on Tuesday as the blockages afterwards. If there are 2 million people, it will be a tour de force, but if there are 300,000 at the end of the week, it’s not the same story. On the other hand, if there are blockages and everything is focused on that, it will be very different. »
“We are not immune to a bad surprise, which mayonnaise takes with the combination of inflation, the return of the holidays”, notes an adviser to the executive. “Beyond the unions, which are outposts of protest, there is also rebellious France . We must both not insult the French who are demonstrating and are worried, but be firm on the recovery of LFI, ”he adds, hoping for strong words from Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne. The latter participated this Monday evening in the program “C à vous” on France 5.
“The only thing that can be said for the moment is that the examination of the bill is progressing in the Senate and that it continues to evolve”, adds an adviser to the executive, as if to show that everything is not blocked.
Feeling that the reform will be applied
The government hopes from the Senate a vote of its article 7 which pushes back the legal age from 62 to 64 years, even, by the cut-off date of March 12, of the whole of the text if the debates accelerate. Because if he is aware of having lost the battle of opinion on the reform, with two thirds of French people who are opposed to it, he also noted that a majority of them, even if the proportion is falling, have the feeling that the reform will be voted on and applied (64% according to an Elabe poll published on Monday, down 11 points since January 10).
Among the majority of the Head of State’s interlocutors, many want to bet on a scenario a la 2010 – with massive demonstrations but in the end, a vote and application of the reform despite the dispute – rather than a scenario “to the CPE”, with the withdrawal of the reform after its vote…
In the meantime, the government is again warning against “blockages” that would last. “Bringing the economy to its knees,” the Minister of Labor, Olivier Dussopt, retorted on Monday, using an expression used by the secretary general of the CGT chemical federation, Emmanuel Lépine, “it is in reality putting the workers at knees,” he attempted.
“Those who toil are those who will be impacted first by this reform, we must stop trying to divide the workers, we must listen,” replied Laurent Berger to similar remarks by the Minister of Public Accounts, Gabriel Attal. The secretary general of the CFDT also castigated “the silence […] or just small sentences” by Emmanuel Macron. “The President of the Republic cannot remain deaf”, he hammered, lamenting for the inter-union “that we were not received collectively by anyone. »
“Democratic Vice”
While he continues to meet deputies from the majority but also at LR as this Wednesday at the invitation of the deputy of Lot Aurélien Pradié – and that he calls on them not to vote for the reform -, Laurent Berger warned against using Article 49.3 of the Constitution to get it passed. “It will have a democratic vice,” he said, as if to further encourage mobilization.
“It is the LRs who have the key to a 49.3 or not, but if the joint joint committee is conclusive and the LR deputies play at not voting for it, warns a government adviser in return, it is about credibility and the survival of this party”.
