“If the government does not abandon the text, the movement will harden,” warned Philippe Martínez, general secretary of the General Confederation of Labor (CGT), last Saturday. This Sunday at noon, it was the turn of the French Democratic Confederation of Labor (CFDT) to clarify its alignment with the movement.
Laurent Berger calls on France to stop
Its secretary general, Laurent Berger, confirmed to the Grand Jury (RTL, Le Figaro and LCI) that he also wanted to “put France on hold”, accusing the government of being at the origin of the “blockade”, in particular the dialogue on the postponement of the legal retirement age set at 64 years.
“We want to make March 7 a significant day,” explains Laurent Berger. “Between 12 [février] and the 7 [mars]there is a lot of time to discuss” but for the moment the latter regrets not having “sound or image of the Government” and Parliament.
A rather elusive definition of “off”
If Laurent Berger insists on the fact that he is “neither in the threat nor in the blockade”, the latter still recalls a “risk” of overflow if the executive does not give in. “If there is a 49.3, do not dream, the people will react”, he shares before recalling that the Government is facing “an unprecedented social movement”.
In short, Laurent Berger evokes a “closure” of the country that would not necessarily include general blockades, or even a clearly renewable strike. The CFDT’s strategy therefore looks quite similar to that of the CGT on paper, but is still, according to Laurent Berger, quite different. “Otherwise we would be the same union,” he justifies.
Therefore, it will be necessary to wait a month to see his intentions clarified. Meanwhile, Laurent Berger wants to make March 7 “a significant day” and describes yesterday the fourth general mobilization against the pension reform as “the largest mobilization on a social issue on a Saturday since the 90s.”
Source: BFM TV
