What is left for the streets and the opposition now that the motion of no confidence has been rejected by a small minority? The text was adopted yesterday and there is only one procedure left before the Constitutional Council for its promulgation within a period of 15 days so that the reduction of the retirement age from 62 to 64 years is made official.
And Philippe Martínez, the leader of the CGT, repeats it over and over again: a “law, even approved, does not necessarily apply”, as happened in 2006 with the first employment contract (CPE). At the time, the reform had unleashed the wrath of the street… which had ended up winning.
The example of the CPE
Hervé Morin, president of the Normandy region and who is asking the president to desist from this pension reform, told France Bleu’s microphone on Monday: “taking a step back is not giving up.” And to take as an example “Jacques Chirac in 2006 at the CPE”.
If the controversial pension reform was finally approved on Monday night, a law does not apply until it is enacted and accompanied by implementing measures. And above all, even enacted, it can be modified or repealed by a new vote. Those who remember the CPE know it.
In March 2006, the National Assembly voted to create this new employment contract for young people, whose project was presented shortly before by Dominique de Villepin, then Prime Minister under Jacques Chirac. Use 49.3 to send your text on March 9. No consultation, then, despite the strong opposition that is beginning to emerge in the Hemicycle and in the cities.
The CPE is an indefinite contract reserved for those under 26 years of age that contains a ‘vesting period’, similar to a probationary period that lasts for two years during which the employer can dismiss his employee without cause. As an argument, Dominique de Villepin cites unemployment among young people between the ages of 15 and 24, which at that time was close to 25%. For youth, this period of consolidation does not pass.
When the street changes the law
The student and secondary organizations are mobilized, the street is on fire, the month of March is dotted with demonstrations that, at their peak, bring together between one and three million walkers. Clashes between demonstrators and police multiply, the atmosphere is electric. On the streets, students join unions and public opinion is favorable to them.
On March 31, Jacques Chirac announced on television that he was promulgating the law suspending its application and that a new law would soon be proposed to modify the most controversial clauses of the CPE.
It is not enough for the protesters who continue to mobilize: for them it is the abolition of the CPE or nothing. On April 10, Dominique de Villepin yields, announces the repeal of it.
Will a ‘CPE’ scenario happen again? In any case, this is the hope of the opponents, although Emmanuel Macron and the government show no sign of changing.
Source: BFM TV
