The Force Ouvrière union decided, this Thursday, February 27, to leave the table of consultations on pensions, a few minutes after the start of the meeting between social partners, refusing to participate in a “masquerade” according to its negotiator, Michel Beaugas.
“For us it’s over. We will not participate in this masquerade where we are said to be said that indeed the only solution, it is to extend the working hours for employees in this country,” launched the meeting of the FO Michel Beaugas negotiator.
Three months of negotiations
The social partners began this Thursday three months of negotiations on the reform of pension of 2023, made even more difficult by the requirement of the government of a return to the financial balance of the system for 2030, while the unions are asking for the repeal of raising at 64 years of the age of departure.
After initially asking the negotiators not to “degrade” this balance, François Bayrou sent on Wednesday evening to the leaders of employers’ organizations and union organizations a letter claiming to “restore financial balance” of the pension system “to a nearby horizon” with a “objective in the year 2030”. The Court of Auditors evaluated last week, in a report which should serve as the basis for discussions, that the deficit of the pension system should reach 6.6 billion euros in 2025 and “stabilize” until 2030, before widening more.
“I am pessimistic about the outcome of the discussions,” said in an interview with World Thursday the president of Medef, Patrick Martin. “We can hardly see how the target of a return to balance in 2030 could be reached if we call into question the 64 year old rule,” he said.