After a very strong mobilization in the street, the inter-union asked Tuesday evening to be “received urgently” by Emmanuel Macron “so that he withdraws his reform” from pensions and announced two new days of mobilization on Saturday and next week. .
“The silence of the President of the Republic constitutes a serious democratic problem”, denounced in a press release the inter-union which calls for mobilization on March 11 and the day of next week when senators and deputies will meet to try to find an agreement. on the pension reform, probably around March 15.
“Historical Mobilization”
The unions, which are playing their all-out once morest the government a few days before a probable adoption of the pension reform in the Senate, have also welcomed a “historic mobilization”, even if the rates of strikers remained a little below the records.
For this sixth day of action once morest the pension reform, the CGT announced 3.5 million demonstrators throughout France, 1 million more than the 2.5 million it had counted on January 31, the previous record in this mobilization once morest the pension reform. The Ministry of the Interior for its part estimated the number of demonstrators at 1.28 million, slightly more than its count of January 31 (1.27 million).
As in previous mobilizations, the processions were generally calm despite some clashes between certain hooded demonstrators and the police in Paris, Nantes, or even in Lyon and Rennes where water cannons were used. In Paris, 22 people were arrested. In the capital, the figures make the big difference between 700,000 according to the CGT and 81,000 for the prefecture.
No debate of Article 7 in the Senate
This mobilization came as the Senate began at the end of the followingnoon the long-awaited examination of the pivotal article of the pension reform project pushing back the retirement age to 64 years. In addition to the gradual decline in the legal age of departure, this article 7 of the bill provides for the acceleration of the extension of the contribution period provided for by the Touraine reform of 2014, crystallizing criticism from the unions and the left. Exceptionally in the Senate, the Communists marked this crucial stage in the debate by brandishing in the hemicycle signs bearing the inscription: “Retirement at 64: withdrawal”.
A motion to refer the article to committee was rejected and the discussion started in a turbulent atmosphere.
As a reminder, Article 7 is the flagship measure of the amending Social Security financing bill (PLFSSR) examined at first reading by the senators, and which might not be addressed by the deputies. In the National Assembly, the debates had been greatly slowed down by the thousands of amendments tabled in particular by the elected representatives of La France insoumise (LFI). The party of Jean-Luc Mélenchon has no elected to the Senate.
