This is a new strong step in the course of mobilization against the pension reform. Unsure about its ability to muster a majority to vote for the pension reform, the government ultimately opted to resort to article 49.3 to secure approval of the text.
A solution that the unions did not take long to denounce again in the image of the general secretary of the CFDT Laurent Berger who did not take long to announce “new mobilizations”. On his Twitter account he says: “By resorting to 49.3, the government is showing that it does not have a majority to approve the two-year extension of the legal retirement age. Political commitment has failed. It is the workers who must be heard when we intend to act on their work.”
“Catastrophic Social Consequences”
His UNSA counterpart, Laurent Escure, adopts a similar reaction in the background: “By using 49.3, the President of the Republic chooses to respond to a social crisis due to a democratic weakening. It is a triple popular, moral and political defeat for the executive. For his part, the general secretary of Force Ouvrière Frédéric Souillot perceives an optimistic sign for the unions:
CFTC Chairman Cyril Chabanier anticipates “catastrophic social consequences” following this decision to use 49.3 which he says is “the worst case scenario”. “It is a worrying institutional violence, comments the confederal president of CFE-CGC, François Hommeril. We have a government that forces the vote when it is sure to win and that prevents the vote when it knows that it will lose. Curious conception of democracy, even if it is based in constitutional provisions”.
The CGT and the CFDT call for continuous mobilization
Even before the confirmation of this use of article 49.3, Philippe Martinez had announced the color. “If there is a favorable vote or a 49.3, obviously the mobilization will continue for the CGT, he indicated at noon. Today there are many protests throughout the country and it is not about giving up. After a favorable vote or a 49.3 “. The general secretary of the CGT retained this guideline in mid-afternoon: “The passage in force with the use of 49-3 must find a response according to this contempt for the people. Demonstrations and strikes must increase. union will define the terms”.
At the sectoral level, some CGT officials had already projected themselves on the consequences of the use of 49.3, such as the Secretary General of Mines-Energy Sébastien Menesplier, quoted by L’Ardennais:
The eight unions must meet at the end of the afternoon at the CGT facilities. A press release will be issued after this meeting.
Source: BFM TV
