The unions are contesting the remarks of the President of the Republic, who notably considered on Wednesday that they had not presented a “compromise proposal” on the text of the pension reform.
Emmanuel Macron responded to journalists from France 2 and TF1, Wednesday March 22 at 1 p.m., on the eve of a new day of union mobilization against the pension reform. The Head of State regretted that the unions had not presented “compromise proposal” on the text and he defended the “democratic legitimacy” of its reform after the rejection by the deputies of the two motions of censure. He also assured that he wanted “re-engage” dialogue on working conditions with the social partners.
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Philippe Martinez (CGT): “The foutage of the mouth”
Emmanuel Macron’s remarks during his interview on Wednesday noon are “mouthing and contempt for the millions of people who demonstrate”, reacted the secretary general of the CGT, Philippe Martinez. “It’s lunar, this interview. It’s: everything is fine, I’m doing everything well, nothing is happening in the street. The President of the Republic is sure of himself, of what he is doing. is serious. There is no response.”
While there is “a historic mobilization” of the French against the reform, Emmanuel Macron “makes a very positive assessment of what he has done”. Philippe Martinez notes that the Head of State “keep saying that there were no alternative proposals” while the unions “all made alternative proposals”, he assures.
Philippe Martinez also judged “properly scandalous” of “compare the situation in France with what happened in the United States” following the election of Joe Biden and “the invasion of the Capitol by hordes of rather far-right Americans”. The boss of the CGT pleads for the mobilization movement “grows” facing a president “Aboveground” and that “becomes a caricature”.
Laurent Berger (CFDT): “Denial and lies”
The secretary general of the CFDT Laurent Berger accused the President of the Republic of having lied about the position of the CFDT on pensions, “to hide his inability to find a majority to vote for his unjust reform”. “Denial and lie! he reacted on Twitter. The CFDT has a pension reform project. Macron 2019 had understood this, he had taken up our ambition for a universal system. Macron 2023 is remaking history and lying about the CFDT”.
Laurent Berger denounces an intervention that was not done “to appease” but “to explain that we had misunderstood and that moreover he was the only camp of responsibility”.
Michel Beaugas (FO): “It’s denying the obvious”
Michel Beaugas, Confederal Secretary Force Ouvrière, accused the Head of State of “lie to the French”. “It’s the Coué method, it’s denying the obvious”, he protests. Michel Beaugas affirms that “contrary to what the President of the Republic says” the inter-union “made proposals”. “We all had the will to reach a compromise with the government on employment and wages, we said to wait, to see how the labor market reacts”, explains the trade unionist on franceinfo. He regrets that “all [les] proposals were swept away out of hand”.
François Hommeril (CFE-CGC): “A provocation” and “a broken record”
“It’s a provocation”, judge François Hommeril, president of the CFE-CGC executives union, who said he was globally “very shocked” by the interview of the Head of State. “Me, I can’t take these lessons of responsibility anymore”, did he declare. Evoking a “scrached disk”, he added that Emmanuel Macron was doing “as if nothing had happened for two months, as if the Earth had stopped turning”. “He went to the moon, maybe he was with Thomas Pesquet, I don’t know, somewhere in the space shuttle…”, he gritted.
Erik Meyer (SUD-Rail): “Emmanuel Macron is making history again”
“Emmanuel Macron and his government are rewriting history”, denounced Erik Meyer, federal secretary of the SUD-Rail union. “It’s wrong” to say that the unions have not made any “compromise proposal”, says Erik Meyer, who points to a government and a president “who refused any negotiation to discuss the future financing of the pension funds”. According to him, “It is the government that has refused any compromise”. Erik Meyer denounced a president “in denial of the social climate in the country”. “For us and for all the unions, there is no question of moving on. We will continue to fight against this bad reform which will create a tax on life”, he finished.