“We have to regain control and it starts on May 1”. For Benoît Teste, secretary general of the FSU (Unitary trade union federation), the appointment is fixed. A week after the re-election of Emmanuel Macron against Marine Le Pen, the trade unions CGT, Solidaires, FSU and Unsa are calling for mobilization during the traditional trade union parades on May 1, for a “third social round”.
“Everything is not decided now, but it is an important moment, a sensor so that we feel the capacity to mobilize for the future”valued Benoit Teste. The social partners say they are worried about certain points of the Macronist program, such as the pension reform which manages to unite the unions in the same opposition.
“During this May 1, we will bring our demands on social rights and say that, starting on a pension reform with a decline in the age to 65, it is not understandable. Even if Emmanuel Macron has made very small concessions at the end of the campaign”warns Murielle Guilbert, co-delegate of Solidaires. “It is an injustice and a mistake to raise the legal age, and we have analyzes to demonstrate it”supports Yves Veyrier, secretary general of Force Ouvrière (FO), whose union will join the demonstrations in certain departments.
The CGT (General Confederation of Labour) also warned in a statement that it “will quickly be able to remind the president and his new government that there is majority opposition to his plans, in particular to increase the retirement age to 65”. Even Laurent Berger, general secretary of the reformist union of the CFDT (French Democratic Confederation of Labor), notes that the proposal on pensions by Emmanuel Macron is the subject of a “powerful rejection”. He claims in The world “a real talk” with the social partners.
“Emmanuel Macron must become aware of what is at stake, of the tensions that there are today in France. He must appease, realize the fractures in society”also alerts Dominique Corona, deputy secretary general of the National Union of Autonomous Trade Unions (Unsa).
“His role is to bring people together. And start by [réformer] pensions don’t seem to be the best way.”
Dominique Corona, Deputy Secretary General of Unsaat franceinfo
Even if they fear the effect of school holidays, the unions also hope to mobilize this Sunday on the issue of purchasing power and the defense of public services. “We have been helping companies for years. Today is the time for employees”claims Dominique Corona.
The organizations also want to send a message to the government, in particular on the timetable for reforms. “We feel that things will go very quickly, with no doubt the strategic will to drown us in a certain number of projects: pension reform, teachers’ pact, overhaul of grids in the public service, creation of France Travail, etc., fears Benoît Teste, of the FSU. In the announced calendar, there is a desire to do all this from the start of the five-year term. Emmanuel Macron, for his part, assured on Friday that he wanted “take the time to consult”referring to the implementation of the reform “by 2023”.
To launch the reform project, Emmanuel Macron is not betting so much on a “state of grace” at the start of the second five-year term, as on the famous “change of method” touted throughout his campaign. He also took care to call the union leaders in the between-two-rounds to reassure. But Monday, Bruno le Maire let go on franceinfo that he could not “personally” guarantee non-use of Article 49.3 to push through the pension reform, leaving union leaders with the prospect of difficult negotiations.
Asked about an appeal to 49.3 for the pension reform, Bruno Le Maire indicates that he “cannot give this guarantee”, and clarifies immediately: “I do not want it, that’s for sure.” pic.twitter.com/7U1c9tjnNu
— franceinfo (@franceinfo) April 25, 2022
For the change of method, organizations therefore remain wary. “I only believe what I see, but it is certain that consultation cannot be: ‘The decision has been made and I invite you to implement it’. We have to be heard”warns Yves Veyrier. “For the moment, we are very skeptical, but we will have to see in the facts”confirms Murielle Guilbert.
To put words into action, Laurent Berger asked Emmanuel Macron to organize a “great social gathering” for “Involve as many people as possible in the co-construction of decisions.” In 2012, François Hollande had thus convened, in July, a “major social conference”, but the initiative had not been renewed by his successor in 2017.
“Mr. President, you cannot meet these challenges alone.”
Laurent Berger, general secretary of the CFDTin a column published in “Le Monde”
On France inter, just before the second round, the president seemed to take a step in this direction: he mentioned, without too many details, a social meeting in the summer in order in particular to discuss the pension reform. “I think we can do it if we also invent a new form of social dialogue”, replied the tenant of the Elysee Palace about the social acceptability of his reform. “We cannot build the country’s future without reaching an agreement and [les partenaires sociaux] are responsible.”
During the first five-year term, the unions sometimes had the impression of being sidelined by the Head of State. “He despised and weakened us, believes Benoît Teste. At the foundation of macronism, there is the idea of saying: ‘We can do without the unions, we don’t care’.” To convince the social partners, the Head of State will therefore have to demonstrate that he has changed his software, advises the former PS mayor of Quimper, Bernard Poignant: “Emmanuel Macron thinks that the unions are very weak and do not serve the general interest, but he has every interest in changing his outlook.”
In the between-two-towers at the headquarters of LREM, this close friend of François Hollande participated to a meeting on the theme of social democracy organized by Démocratie Vivante, a think tank located in the left wing of Macronie. “We were entrusted with the organization of this public campaign meeting. It is still a marker”, welcomes Aude de Castet, vice-president of the association. She hopes that, for the new five-year term, “the slogan ‘Avec Vous’ is not just a slogan, but also a method”because “the social democracy is also a method of acceptability for the implementation of any socio-economic reform”.
In the opinion of all the unions, if Emmanuel Macron does not open the way to dialogue, he takes the risk of facing a social fall, when his pension reform will undoubtedly arrive on the desks of Parliament. “If we are not heard, we will have no other resources than to appeal to the employees in order to demonstrate, or even to go on strike”already warns Yves Veyrier, of FO. “There must be a step forward towards the positions of employee representatives, claims Murielle Guilbert. Otherwise it can end in the street and in despair as we saw during the movement of the ‘yellow vests’.”