President Emmanuel Macron says the changes are necessary to protect the current system and balance the books, and he has shown no sign of backing down.
“We decided to end this useless meeting once the prime minister indicated that she would continue to govern against the country,” said Sophie Binet, the new leader of the CGT union. “It’s a slap in the faces of the millions of French people who are in the street, who are on strike, who are opposed to retiring at 64.”
The government, which forced through the reform using a procedure that bypasses a parliamentary vote and then narrowly survived a no-confidence motion, has referred the pensions bill to the Constitutional Council for review.
The body has said it will issue a ruling on April 14 on both the conformity of the proposal to raise the minimum age and on an opposition-backed request to put it to a referendum.
Berger urged the council to “understand today that our democracy needs calming down, and that this means the text isn’t applied.” He also called for maximum participation in Thursday’s protests and said the level of determination to block the reform is still just as strong.
The head of the CFTC, Cyril Chabanier, said unions won’t work with the government on other labor issues, such as full employment or wealth distribution, as long as it refuses to change position. “This reform is rejected by almost all of the population,” he said. “It must be withdrawn.”
In a short statement to reporters after the meeting, Borne said she understood the disagreement over retiring later but reiterated that the reform is necessary. She called the encounter an important step.
More stories like this are available on bloomberg
French unions say country in crisis as PM defends pension plan
Image: REUTERS/Tingshu Wang
French unions said they walked out of a meeting with Elisabeth Borne on Wednesday aimed at easing the conflict over plans to raise the minimum retirement age after the prime minister refused to withdraw the unpopular reform.
Labor representatives accused the government of not taking seriously any of their alternative proposals to finance the pension system and branded the first face-to-face discussion since the overhaul was set out on Jan. 10 a failure.
“We are living through a serious democratic crisis,” Laurent Berger, the head of the moderate CFDT, said alongside other union leaders outside the Hotel de Matignon, the prime minister’s official residence, in Paris.
France faces a fresh day of strikes Thursday in what will be an 11th day of mass protests against the plan to raise the retirement age by two years to 64, which opinion polls show is rejected by a majority of the population.
Image: Bloomberg
President Emmanuel Macron says the changes are necessary to protect the current system and balance the books, and he has shown no sign of backing down.
“We decided to end this useless meeting once the prime minister indicated that she would continue to govern against the country,” said Sophie Binet, the new leader of the CGT union. “It’s a slap in the faces of the millions of French people who are in the street, who are on strike, who are opposed to retiring at 64.”
The government, which forced through the reform using a procedure that bypasses a parliamentary vote and then narrowly survived a no-confidence motion, has referred the pensions bill to the Constitutional Council for review.
The body has said it will issue a ruling on April 14 on both the conformity of the proposal to raise the minimum age and on an opposition-backed request to put it to a referendum.
Berger urged the council to “understand today that our democracy needs calming down, and that this means the text isn’t applied.” He also called for maximum participation in Thursday’s protests and said the level of determination to block the reform is still just as strong.
The head of the CFTC, Cyril Chabanier, said unions won’t work with the government on other labor issues, such as full employment or wealth distribution, as long as it refuses to change position. “This reform is rejected by almost all of the population,” he said. “It must be withdrawn.”
In a short statement to reporters after the meeting, Borne said she understood the disagreement over retiring later but reiterated that the reform is necessary. She called the encounter an important step.
More stories like this are available on bloomberg
Image: REUTERS/Tingshu Wang
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