ESPA 2014-2020
phone_forwarded
  • 210 52 21 024Phone center
  • 210 26 37 691Branch

international

Read

Εισαγωγικό κείμενο

New pension protests in France
  • 27 Apr 2023
  • international

France was in turmoil for another day with unions calling for strikes and demonstrations over pensions.

However, a change of tactics is visible, since on the one hand the trade unions of France left open a dialogue window with the government on the condition that the implementation of the new pension will be "frozen" and on the other hand the same government expressed its will to "appease" the spirits.

Although the government says it wants to calm the spirits, France is on strike for another day today. It is the 10th round of strikes and demonstrations in recent months.

Yesterday's strike was particularly noticeable from the morning in the transport sectors as well as education.

On the part of the unions, however, there were some moves in the direction of consultation with the government camp.

Laurent Berger, general secretary of the CFDT, the trade union historically in the Socialist party, said there could be a consultation period if the government decided to freeze for at least a month the process of implementing the new pension system.

For his part, Philippe Martine, head of the CGT, which historically belongs to the Communist Party, said that the unions will co-sign a letter to the president of the Republic, calling on him to suspend the implementation of the pension law and at the same time to appoint a mediator to resolve the matter.

President Macron has so far not refused the consultation with the unions, but has not hinted that he is willing to freeze the implementation process of the new pension system.

The protests have all been marred in previous days by violent incidents, in which police, gendarmes, rioters and protesters have been injured and public buildings set on fire.

Interior Minister Géral Darmanen announced on Monday that an "unprecedented security force" would be deployed, with "13,000 police and gendarmes, including 5,500 in Paris", noting that authorities had recently noticed a trend towards greater violence against the state and expected a "very serious danger to public order" in yesterday's demonstrations.

At the same time thousands of tonnes of waste remained on the streets of Paris after more than 20 days of strike by collection services, serving as fuel for fires lit by groups of rioters in the evening.

Macron invited Prime Minister Elisabeth Bourne and his majority officials -- party leaders, ministers, parliamentarians -- to the presidential palace. According to what was conveyed by one of the participants in the meeting, the president said that they should "continue to reach out" to the unions and accused the "France Insubordinate" party (radical left) of wanting to "delegitimize" the institutions.

“There is bound to be tension over reform. We'll have to hear that," Bourne acknowledged.

The prime minister therefore set two goals: "calming" spirits in the country and "accelerating responses to the expectations of the French".

To do this, he yesterday launched extensive three-week consultations with parliamentary bodies, political parties, local authority representatives and social partners, to "have a dialogue with all actors about the method we need to apply".

Click to read the Terms of Use - Privacy Policy