The inter-union asked Tuesday evening to be “received urgently” by Emmanuel Macron “so that he withdraws his reform” from pensions and announced two new days of mobilization on Saturday and next week.
“The silence of the President of the Republic constitutes a serious democratic problem”, denounced in a press release the inter-union which calls for mobilization on March 11 and the day of next week when senators and deputies will meet to try to find an agreement. on the pension reform, probably around March 15.
Tuesday evening, the Elysée responded to this message assuring the unions that “the door of the executive has always remained open” to discuss the pension reform, without however responding directly to their request to be received “urgently” by Emanuel Macron. “The door to the executive has always remained open. This is what the President of the Republic recalled in particular in his recent expressions on the pension reform “during his visits to the Rungis market or the Agricultural Show, said the entourage of Emmanuel Macron when questioned. on this request from the inter-union after a record day of mobilization against the reform.
In its press release, read by Patricia Drevon (FO) during a press conference at the headquarters of Force Ouvrière, the inter-union welcomed a “historic day” which brought together “more than three million” people who “have mobilized through the strike and/or the demonstration”. “To date, these huge mobilizations led by a united inter-union have received no response from the government. This cannot go on any longer,” she said. The sixth day of mobilization against the pension reform in France brought together 1.28 million demonstrators on Tuesday according to a count made by the Ministry of the Interior and 3.5 million according to the CGT union, more than the record of January 31 .
“The ball is in the president’s court”
The unions reiterated their support for the mobilizations planned for March 8 for International Women’s Rights Day and for the specific appeal by youth organizations on the 9th. “The President of the Republic must take the decision to announce on the forecourt of the Elysee “I withdraw this reform, I put everyone around the table”, launched Catherine Perret, CGT confederal secretary.
“The ball is in the court of the President of the Republic (…) it is important that the government becomes aware of the democratic risk to which it is exposed if it remains totally deaf to a massive expression of the world of work”, has his side explained Marylise Léon, number 2 of the CFDT.
Asked about the continuation of the strike in several sectors, she stressed that there was no call at the national interprofessional level for the renewable strike. On the other hand “we support” the sectors which are engaged in this type of mobilization, she said, citing the railway workers where the CFDT is involved in the inter-union which called for the renewable strike. “The idea is that we stay in decisions sector by sector, to know what are the best modes of mobilization”, she said. “We wanted to have a progressive movement which rises little by little, there is no desire to block the French, but to block the reform”, she underlined.
