The week promises to be crucial in France for the highly contested pension reform, with two days of strong mobilization in sight against this project for the start of its examination by the deputies and, on the front line, a minister weakened by suspicions of favoritism .
Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne took a step on Sunday towards the right-wing LR deputies, whose votes are essential to vote for the reform.
“We are going to move by extending the long career system to those who started working between the ages of 20 and 21”, which will allow them to “retire at 63”, announced Mr.me Terminal in the French newspaper JDDwithout calling into question the cardinal measure of the reform, the raising of the retirement age from 62 to 64 years.
But this is not enough for the LR deputy for Pas-de-Calais Pierre-Henri Dumont, who wants “all those” who started contributing before the age of 21 to be concerned.
However, LR’s support for the reform seemed to have been acquired since its main officials had expressed their satisfaction at having been heard by the government on January 10.
Mme Borne also assured of all his “trust” the Minister of Labour, Olivier Dussopt, in the front line on this bill, at a time when he is weakened by suspicions of “favouritism” in the awarding of a public contract. when he was mayor of Annonay, a small town in the Ardèche, about fifteen years ago.
President Emmanuel Macron’s camp only has a relative majority in the Assembly. Added to this is the threat of internal defections, some of which within the Macronist Renaissance group itself. A dozen votes could be missing from the presidential camp in a final vote.
And the unions are still standing against the increase in the retirement age, which has already mobilized a record number of demonstrators on January 19 and 31.
The development proposed on Sunday by the Prime Minister was described as a “patch” by Laurent Berger, general secretary of the CFDT, the first French union, on France Inter radio.
Social mobilization
Two new days of action are planned, Tuesday and Saturday.
On Tuesday, train traffic will again be “severely disrupted” in France, as well as that of the metros in Paris, according to the transport companies SNCF and RATP.
The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGAC) on Sunday asked airlines to preventively cancel one flight in five on Tuesday at Paris Orly airport, due to a strike by air traffic controllers. “Disturbances and delays are nevertheless to be expected” on the remaining flights, warns the DGAC, without mentioning restrictions for the other Paris airport of Roissy.
From a security source, the authorities expect Tuesday between 900,000 and 1.1 million people in the street, including 70,000 in Paris.
And, according to Mr. Berger, the culmination of this week of mobilization will be Saturday, February 11.
The strikes should once again also particularly concern the energy and refinery sectors, which have planned to stop work on Tuesday and Wednesday.
But the time has not yet come to block the economy, a strategy decried by the reformist unions.