The Prime Minister sent invitations to the unions on Friday for talks without a “specific agenda”, after the enactment of the highly contested pension reform and major demonstrations on May 1.
Is this a new page of social dialogue, which will open? Most of the unions invited by Elisabeth Borne on May 16 and 17 for a series of interviews have agreed to go there. The CGT in particular said yes. To see what he will be able to negotiate there, but it is a first step, after the four months of conflict against the pension reform. And a month after the last meeting at Matignon, with all the intersyndicale, which had come to an end.
The invitations, received Friday evening by the unions, have no specific agenda. Elisabeth Borne wants to put on the table the subjects she calls “of general interest” such as the employment of seniors, for example, with the idea of making conventional breaks more expensive. For their part, the unions will reaffirm their demand for withdrawal from the pension reform. “The battle is not over”, says Laurent Berger for the CFDT, while the first decrees have just been submitted to the Old Age Insurance Fund. This is what should give the user manual, concretely, of all the changes: the extension of the legal age, for example, or the management of long careers.
Bilateral talks
The CGT after reflection, agreed to meet the Prime Minister, but to move forward on social measures, for employees. The central believes that it is in a position of strength vis-à-vis the government and wants to take advantage of it. Especially to talk about rising wages. If it is to discuss measures that the union considers regressive, such as the new RSA, conditioned on hours of activity, the meeting will be cut short, says the CGT to franceinfo.
For its part, Force Ouvrière must still officially decide tomorrow, Tuesday, May 9, whether or not to accept the invitation of Elisabeth Borne. The four other invited organizations – CFDT, CGT, CFE-CGC and CFTC – hope to win victories from their bilateral meetings.
The centrals ensure that the format of these interviews in bilateral, and not all the unions at the same time, in multilateral, does not call into question the union of the inter-union. They claim to be still attached to this collective aspect which has held since the beginning of the conflict over pensions. And which has rather benefited him, in the eyes of the public. There will be exchanges, to prepare the appointments with the Prime Minister. “We work on common requirements”, ensures the CGT. The unity of the intersyndicale makes it possible to weigh in the negotiations to come. Under study in particular, wage increases, but also the idea of conditioning aid to companies.
In addition, joint actions are continuing: there is the day of mobilization on June 6, but also the letter that the unions will send to parliamentarians (except those of the National Rally) to ask them “solemnly” to vote on the Liot group’s bill, which provides for the repeal of the postponement of the retirement age to 64 years.