After weeks of unprecedented mobilization in France, the long-awaited meeting between Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne and the unions to try to emerge from the social crisis over pensions stalled on Wednesday and ended in “failure”.
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The government, which passed this reform without a vote in the National Assembly on March 16, hoped to resume dialogue, while the unions had warned that they would continue to demand the withdrawal of this text, requested by President Emmanuel Macron , who said the raise the retirement age from 62 to 64.
“64 is no!” replied a large banner erected at the top of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris on the eve of the 11th day of mobilization in response to a call from the CGT union.
And the exchange at the Hotel Matignon, the head of government’s office, was brief: the meeting with Elisabeth Borne, the first since a major anti-reform mobilization began in January, lasted less than an hour and ended in “failure”. , according to the eight organizations that have formed a union.
“We have repeated to the Prime Minister that there can be no democratic outcome other than the withdrawal of the text. The Prime Minister replied that she wanted to keep her text, a serious decision,” said CFTC union President Cyril Chabanier on behalf of the Intersyndicals.
Unionists had warned that if Elisabeth Borne refused to discuss raising the retirement age, the flagship measure of the reform that has been fueling anger in France for several weeks and which is at the heart of an 11th vote, they would walk out of the meeting. Mobilization stand is scheduled day for Thursday.
The prime minister, who received the organizations in Matignon for the first time since January 10, had promised to “listen to all issues despite “points of disagreement”” and hoped to be able to raise other reforms to come, particularly in the case of hardships at work or the division of wealth.
“We oppose turning the page and opening other consultation sequences as the government is proposing,” the union replied on Wednesday.
At the end of the meeting, Ms Borne agreed that “differences over age” had not made it possible to discuss “in depth” with the unions, but nonetheless welcomed an “important step” and pledged “not to proceed without contacting the social partners”. other upcoming projects.
All are therefore sticking to their positions on the eve of a new day of action in the country, which should lead to new disruptions in certain key sectors of the economy, as well as in schools and colleges.
For the 11th day of mobilization against the pension reform, traffic for the Paris subway will be “almost normal” on Thursday, with the exception of some subway lines, the Paris transport authority RATP announced on Wednesday.
The executive is betting on the fatigue of protesters when spring break begins on April 8. Conversely, the unions want to “show on Thursday that the mobilization is still strong”.
Since the end of January, this reform, very unpopular according to opinion polls, has sparked an unprecedented almost weekly mobilization in France, sending up to 1.3 million people onto the streets on March 7 (according to the authorities).
And these demonstrations witnessed a resurgence of tensions following the adoption of the reform without a vote in Parliament on Article 49.3 of the Constitution, which the left-wing opposition and certain trade unions say symbolizes a much deeper crisis.
The leader of the left-wing party LFI, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, therefore accused the Prime Minister of “walling herself in denial of reality” and “transforming a social crisis into a political crisis” through her “stubbornness”.
However, Emmanuel Macron’s entourage, which is currently visiting China, has denied any “democratic crisis” in the country. “For an elected president with an elected majority, admittedly relative, trying to carry out a project that was carried out democratically, that is not called a democratic crisis,” said one of his relatives.
Unions and government are now looking to the Constitutional Council, which will decide on April 14 whether this reform is compatible with France’s constitution.
Elders will also decide on the day the validity of a text put forward by the left-wing opposition that could pave the way for a pensions referendum.