“I do not understand the starting point, the objective, of this reform”said Laurent Berger, secretary general of the CFDT, Friday, April 29 on franceinfo, concerning the pension reform wanted by Emmanuel Macron with the decline of the legal age to 65 years. “If the objective of this reform is to balance the pension accounts, there is no need to go to a postponement of the legal age”he estimated.
If it’s about funding “the addiction” without raising taxes, “I disagree,” continued Laurent Berger. “Financing the loss of autonomy is a very important subject”said the boss of the CFDT, “but there are other ways to do it”. He therefore proposed to set up “a tax on the transfer of assets”in other words tax inheritances. “It is one of the strongest inequalities in our country”he assured, pointing out that “10% of the population owns 50% of the heritage”.
The CFDT said to itself “opposed to raising the legal age” retirement, convinced that it is necessary “staying at 62”. Laurent Berger also reacted to the proposal of Jean-Luc Mélenchon, unsuccessful candidate of La France insoumise in the presidential election, to set the starting age at 60 years. “Let’s be serious, if he has found the magic recipe for financing retirement at 60, and why not at 45 while we’re at it, so much the better”he quipped.
He also argued for “of a fairer pension system”. “Our wealth is our pay-as-you-go pension system, it is almost in balance, its problem is its intrinsic injustice”he explained, pointing to the case of women who have “on average around 20 to 30% less retirement than men”. He also defended a minimum pension “equivalent to minimum wage”for “those who have worked all their lives”is “1,300 euros net”where Emmanuel Macron offers 1,100 euros.