Pension reform in France in force: Macron’s nightly signature causes displeasure

In the middle of the night, President Macron signed the pension reform law – and thus also caused criticism from Prime Minister Borne. The unions turned down an offer to talk and are planning new protests.

Journalists ask Budget Minister Attal what the President will say on television on Monday evening. “I can’t tell you any more about that at the moment. Salut! How’s it going?” he replies and greets a party friend with a kiss on the right and a kiss on the left.

Attal rushes to a judo gym rented for a crisis meeting of the Renaissance presidential party. Prime Minister Borne had said in advance that the most important thing for her was to calm the situation. “It’s difficult when the president signs the pension reform law that night, when he would have had two weeks,” says Borne. “The breaking news came shortly after 6, he is said to have signed even earlier.”

Criticism has also come from CFTC trade unionist Chabanier. “Once again he’s provocative. He doesn’t listen and signs at four in the morning, as if it were an emergency. And the Constitutional Council has eliminated the most positive thing we’ve fought through, the carrot. And then we’re supposed to show up to him on Tuesday – that’s possible not at all!”

“That’s How Thieves Do It”

That’s what thieves do, says the opposition. Communist leader Roussel had warned that Macron’s election meant “setting the country on fire, which nobody wants.”

The request of the moderate union leader Berger also went unheeded. “You can get out of this crisis. Wisdom dictates not to sign this law. Because six points have been deleted. They were the most positive for employees. And in that case, the constitution provides that the text can be brought back to parliament . I ask the President, do not sign this weekend, “said Berger, even before it was signed.

Higher entry age and no special pensions

The Constitutional Council had approved the most important reform points – the new starting age will be 64 instead of 62 in the future. Almost all special pension systems, for example for employees of the electricity company EDF, the Banque de France or the Paris transport company, are no longer available. The 43 years of contributions are coming faster. And for just 1.5 percent of retirees with low pensions, these will be increased.

However, the deleted points were dropped because they do not fit into a supplementary budget for social security. That’s exactly where the government put its text. No medical check-up at 60 for everyone who works in risky occupations, no retraining fund for them, no senior citizen index with which companies have to report how many older people they employ, and no permanent employment contract for senior citizens with fewer social security contributions.

False statements in Parliament

In addition, the reform was brought through Parliament in a questionable manner. Constitutional lawyer Dominique Rousseau from the Sorbonne in Paris seemed at a loss on news television BFM-TV: “The parliamentary way is a quality guarantee for a law. However, the Constitutional Council has confirmed that ministers have made false statements in Parliament and that it is unusual how many articles the government has tried to streamline the debate. How do I explain to my students that the reform has been approved? It shouldn’t be a surprise that people don’t follow laws that have been messed up!”

Beginning September 1, the entry age will increase by three months each year. The 1968 vintage will be the first to land at 64 years old. For Hervè Sauzay, head of the French Institute for Senior Citizens, the reform revealed deficits in particular. “Namely, the poor management of the work of seniors. Many people find the end of working life painful. In the private sector, one in two French people retires as unemployed.”

New mass protests planned for May Day

But the unions, who have turned down an invitation to the Elysée on Tuesday and feel mocked, want to make May Day the day of the big struggle. They hold oversized checks in the cameras: 60,000 to 80,000 euros. An Internet collection platform confirms that almost 150 collection funds have been set up since mid-January and more than 1.6 million euros have already been donated. Three times more than Macron’s first attempt at pension reform three years ago. And the treasury of the Intersyndicale, where all the threads of the struggle come together, is approaching the four million donation mark. “The strike funds show that people trust us, that we want to fight for something for everyone,” says railway worker Anthony proudly.

After the decision of the Constitutional Council, there were nationwide demonstrations on Saturday night. In Paris alone there were around 140 arrests. The situation was particularly tense in Rennes, where a police station and a Jacobin convent burned. For a young resident, that’s too much: “I’m hopeless. That’s too much violence. What for? I don’t understand the meaning of some fights. It’s headed towards anarchy and doesn’t lead to anything.”

Special commands were therefore sent to the student city in Breton on Saturday. Nevertheless, incendiary devices flew, cars were ablaze.