The Prime Minister wants to continue to “convince” on the pension reform and appeals to the “responsibility” of the unions while calls for strikes have multiplied. The CGT oil calls on refineries to “stop shipments”. The RATP and the SNCF, for their part, want a “powerful strike” next Thursday.
Try to lower the pressure. After the call from the CGT of the oil branch to block refineries, Elisabeth Borne sent a message to the unions on Thursday, less than 48 hours after presenting her pension reform.
“For the unions, it’s a call for responsibility. Obviously, there is a right to strike, a right to demonstrate, but I think it’s also important not to penalize the French,” said the First. Minister in front of the press during a trip to Disneyland Paris (Marne-la-Vallée).
“Throughput decreases” in refineries
The CGT oil calls for several days of strike against the extension of the retirement age to 64 years. The call will lead to “decreases in flow” and “stopping of shipments”, said Eric Sellini, national coordinator of the union for TotalEnergies.
This warning comes after a vast mobilization of refineries last fall for wage increases which had put the government in great difficulty.
More broadly, since Tuesday, the unions have been presenting a united front – a first for 12 years – and are launching a one-day strike on January 19. The social partners hope that this event turns into a show of force and “gives the start of a powerful mobilization on long-term pensions”.
Borne wants to “continue to work to convince”
The unions of large transport companies such as SNCF or RATP are also calling for “a powerful strike” on Thursday January 19.
“It is a text of progress. We have planned to revalue the small retirement pensions of those who have been able to have a whole working life who left with a very small pension. I will continue to work to convince”, again assured the Prime Minister this Thursday morning.
The executive has remained straight in his boots in recent days. Government spokesman Olivier Véran thus assured during his press briefing on Wednesday that he “not project himself into the idea of a massive mobilization”. A little earlier in the day, the Minister Delegate still assured “not to be afraid” of strikes.
