The French take to the streets for wages and pensions – What will Macron do?

The French government faces its first major test today, with strikes and demonstrations across France over wage increases and against pension reform crucial to the Emmanuel Macron who wants the adoption of the relevant bill “before the end of winter”.

France’s president, who insists on maintaining his ability to reform his country, is not ruling out the possibility of dissolving the French National Assembly if a motion of censure against the government is passed, Labor Minister Olivier Dishopt warned today.

“If all sides of the opposition come together to pass the motion of no confidence and overthrow the government“, Emmanuel Macron “he will appeal to the French and the French will decide and say what the new majority they want will be. And, of course (…) we will go on an election campaign to support the president“, said Olivier Disopt who is in charge of new pensions consultations next week.

The government will begin a new round of consultations on pension reform with the prospect of approving the bill “before the end of winter”, Prime Minister Elizabeth Bourne announced after a meeting of the government majority last night at the Elysee Palace.

“We made the choice of dialogue and consultation” with the social partners and political parties,” he said, adding that he wants “the implementation of the reform in the summer of 2023». The government aims to gradually increase the retirement age by four months a year until 65 in 2031, compared to 62 today, the French prime minister explained.

Emmanuel Macron, in the presidency since 2017, has committed to pension reform after a failed attempt during his first term due to the Covid pandemic crisis.

But the president lost his absolute majority in June after his re-election, complicating the passage of government bills by parliament.

With deficits rising and public debt reaching high levels, mainly due to inflation and measures to support French purchasing power, the 44-year-old president says raising the retirement age and reducing unemployment are the only means of raising of public revenue without raising taxes.

Mobilization of the left

Emmanuel Macron’s government has approved pay rises for civil servants and teachers and introduced Europe’s most generous inflation safety nets, capping household energy prices and reining in inflation.

But insistence on raising the pension limit is facing backlash from unions and the left-wing opposition, and his reform plan remains unpopular in France.

“All the unions in France are against the continuation of work until the age of 64 or 65,” Philippe Martínez, general secretary of the CGT, France’s second largest union, reiterated today. As for his participation in next week’s consultations, he replies that “if it’s to tell us to discuss raising the retirement age, it won’t go far“, he warned.

Today’s mobilization is taking place without the CFDT, the first French union, which announced at the beginning of September that it would not participate. “Mobilization must be done by company, by sectorCFDT general secretary Laurent Berget said.

The strike is expected to affect train traffic, mainly in the French capital region, but not in the Paris metro. In Paris, the march will start at noon with the participation of trade union delegations, as well as parliamentarians. The parties of the left that make up Nupes expressed their support for the mobilization.

The parties of the French left are organizing on October 16 “a great march against precision and climate inertia”, without the support of the CGT.

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