The executive stays the course. Labor Minister Olivier Dussopt assures this Sunday on the set of “BFM Politique” that the government will not abandon its pension reform project, despite the new call for mobilization from the unions on March 7.
A “necessary” reform
When asked if the executive intends to give in, the minister clearly answers “no” into the BFMTV microphone.
“This reform is difficult”, but “necessary”, he argues.
“There is a concern and a form of opposition to the pension reform, we hear it,” he says. But “when you have a deficit of 12,000 million in 2027, 2027 is tomorrow and the deficit is going to widen” in the following years, she replies. Abandoning the reform “would be unfair to the French who succeed us, because it would endanger the pension system,” he further argues.
“Blocking is not the right solution”
After several days of mobilization, the unions once again call on the opponents of the pension reform project to take to the streets on March 7 to “block the country.”
“I think the blockade is not the right solution. (…) Nobody wants it,” said the minister, however. “There is a difference between a very strong day of mobilization and the desire for a blockade that lasts with strikes that can be renewed,” he argues.
The minister acknowledges that the Executive expects a “difficult day” marked by a “blockade of the country” on March 7, but wants to be combative. “What I want is to continue convincing” the French, he says.
Several sectors, such as the RATP, CGT Éboueurs, CGT Chimie or even the refineries have submitted calls for renewable strikes starting on March 7, while the bill remains unpopular among the majority of the population.
67% of the French say they approve of the mobilization against the pension reform, according to a poll by Élabe “L’Opinion en direct” for BFMTV published on February 15.
Source: BFM TV
