The civil service inter-union called on Wednesday all agents to mobilize against a pension reform considered “unfair and unnecessary”, in particular by participating “massively” in the strike scheduled for January 19. In a rare joint press release, the eight union organizations representing the public service -in the order CGT, FO, CFDT, Unsa, FSU, Solidaires, CFE-CGC and FA-FP- “demand the Government to withdraw its project to postpone the legal retirement age from 62 to 64 and increase the contribution period”.
A turn that affects agents “benefiting from active or super active duty”
The unions denounce in particular the fact that the two-year delay in the retirement age would also apply to agents “who benefit from active or superactive service”, that is, those who perform difficult jobs.
Consequently, the inter-union calls on “all public officials to mobilize” against this “unfair and unnecessary” reform and “to enroll en masse in the first day of strikes and inter-professional demonstrations on January 19.” The public service unions, united by wage demands as well as their common opposition to the pension reform, are also trying to agree on a date for an inter-union meeting that could herald future mobilizations. Initially scheduled for Wednesday, the inter-union meeting was postponed due to the unavailability of some participants.
Difficult jobs worry 710,000 civil servants
The Government presented its pension reform project on Tuesday, which plans to move the legal retirement age by two years and accelerate the extension of the contribution period to benefit from a full pension. In an attempt to alleviate the hostility of the unions, the executive has planned in particular to reintroduce a progressive retirement system in the civil service and has announced a “professional burnout prevention fund” for caregivers, which will be endowed a priori with 100 million euros per year.
On the issue of arduous work, carried out by 710,000 civil servants in France according to the Ministry of Public Service, the Government plans to sanctify the right to early retirement in the event of reconversion to a profession that is less physically exposed. Another guarantee, the minimum pension for civil servants is set at around 1,250 euros, about fifty euros more than what is expected in the private sector.
More than a “compensation” for the increase in the legal age, “which will affect the majority of women”, these measures are simply a matter of “justice”, commented the general secretary of the CFDT public functions, Mylène Jacquot . Consulted, the Ministry of Public Administration did not want to react to the call for mobilization.
Source: BFM TV
