The announcement is received with optimism in the ranks of the government. Yesterday afternoon, the CGT indicated that its general secretary Sophie Binet would indeed go to Matignon as part of the Prime Minister’s invitation to the attention of five representative unions, the CFDT, the CGT, FO, the CFE-CGC and the CFTC. Invited to the BFMTV set this Sunday at noon, Bruno Le Maire was delighted with the response of the union organization while his leader remained vague about his presence during his last speeches.
The Minister of Economy and Finance ruled out any logic of conflict between the Government and the unions. “I don’t really like the rhetoric of victory because it presupposes a rhetoric of defeat, he stressed. There is only one winner in this pension reform: the French nation and its pension system.” He has also highlighted the form of these meetings between the unions and the head of Government through “bilateral talks”: “Resume the dialogue, discuss again in the way decided by the President of the Government, that is, with each union” .
Openness to various issues presented by the unions
The Bercy boss has positioned himself in favor of several issues on which the unions want to assert their demands during their meetings in Matignon. Among these, the increase in salaries, which should once again be around 5% on average, according to Bruno Le Maire: “I see that they have opened the way for other issues such as better employee remuneration.” […] I call on all the companies that can to continue raising wages as they have done.”
While the measures related to the employment of the elderly have been rejected by the Constitutional Council in the pension reform project, the Minister of Economy and Finance has affirmed his willingness to act in this area: “It is the next fight and it has been underlined on several occasions by the CGT I believe that today we must make this maintenance of the elderly in employment a priority.
Source: BFM TV
