Alongside Emmanuel Macron, Laurent Berger (Guérande, 54 years old) is the protagonist in the struggle for pension reform in France. Any solution to the political and social crisis that the country is experiencing will certainly pass through the leader of the first French trade union and the president of the republic.
Berger is general secretary of the French Confederation of Democratic Trade Unions (CFDT), which, unlike the militant CGT, has traditionally been described as reformist or moderate. The president is also president of the European Trade Union Confederation. Allied to Macron himself and other governments in previous reforms, the CFDT opposed the reform from the start, which aims to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64 and speed up the mandatory contribution period from 43 years instead of 41. of this union, the largest in France, reform would have been easier for the government.
In an interview with and to the newspapers of the European journalistic group LENA Tuesday in Paris, Berger explained his proposal to get out of France’s political and social crisis. His speech goes beyond reforms: he embodies a social-democratic left that has long since lost its voice in France.
To ask. There are images of violence and fire in the streets of France, society revolts, the president does not give up. How do you get out of this alley?
Comment. There is a social rage that is beginning to turn into a democratic rage. It’s a great social movement that hasn’t existed since the early 1980s. The reason is simple: pension reform and everything it reveals about the world of work. Power failed to take into account what happened during the pandemic, which shook relations with work, especially for first and second line workers: those in care, companionship, cleaning and agriculture. They were there during childbirth, they didn’t get any credit for their salary, and the credit they’re getting now is to work for two more years. Those most affected by the reform are those who started working in low-skilled occupations between the ages of 18.5 and 21. The conflict starts over pensions, is mismanaged from a parliamentary point of view and evolves into a democratic crisis.
Q. So what’s the solution?
A. You must press the pause button. That means temporarily suspending the law and discussing it again in a process with mediators. The first gesture on the power side is to say, “Okay, let’s put aside 64 years and talk again.”
Q. Would the break last six months?
A. Yes, time to calm things down and come to an agreement.
Q. Can Macron hit the pause button without losing credibility?
A. Imagine that one day there is drama at a demonstration. Then you lose credibility. If I make this suggestion, it is so that no one overlooks it. My idea is to say, ‘Listen to what is happening, listen to the breathing of society and the world of work’. The tension is enormous, and when the law is there, the tension turns into resentment. Have you seen the projection of seats in the National Assembly in case of dissolution and early elections? He [partido de extrema derecha] The National Regroupment is multiplied by two of its proxies, the NUPES [alianza de izquierdas] He gets nothing, the president’s majority gets half…
Q. All neighboring countries, or almost all, have a higher statutory retirement age.
A. Yes, but pay attention to the effective retirement age. Our statutory retirement age is 62 years, but the average retirement age is 63 years and three months. Expert forecasts indicate that it will rise to 64 years and slightly more. If you look at other European countries, the retirement age is around 65 or 67, but the effective age is lower. I like European comparisons. But six years ago we did not make an agreement between unions and government, as is happening now in Spain, with the possibility of a compromise. Never! And I know Pepe Álvarez well [secretario general de UGT]. The Spanish agreement with the government and with Yolanda Díaz [ministra de Trabajo y Economía Social] It is not the consultation that has arisen [en Francia] with Olivier Dussopt [ministro de Trabajo]. No compromises are sought here.
Q. Would you agree to a retirement age of 63 instead of 64?
A. Why at age 63? They made old age a political object. We talk about people’s lives at work. At the moment the country is in extreme tension, with a huge risk at the democratic level, and all for a saving of 10,000 million euros a year, which is important, but the last aid measure for fuel was 12,000 million euros. Age is dogmatic: that’s what the president himself said in 2017.
Q. How do you deal with the problem of calling for demonstrations, knowing that protests can be a pretext for violence?
A. There is a problem and the way to fight it is to speak unequivocally. the black blocks [grupos violentos] they hate unions as much as they hate the government and journalists. Violence must be unequivocally condemned. Now imagine if there were no vocations [a manifestarse] unions mobilized: there would still be violence.
Q. Where does this violence come from, which is difficult to observe in other European countries at a similar level?
A. There is a nihilistic atmosphere in some radicalized groups. I saw how black blocs attacked a credit union: they thought they were attacking capitalism.
Q. What about hanging or burning an image of Macron?
A. I condemn. Symbolic violence is the same to me. I would also say that I pointed out a problem to the government: what is the democratic perspective of a country, including its relationship to violence, when the yellow vests mobilized a maximum of 284,000 people and decided to spend €13,000 million? [en respuesta a las protestas]and now, with at least nine peaceful mobilizations involving 1.5 million peaceful demonstrators, is there no answer?
Q. Could it happen that the government accepts your proposal for dialogue because of violence, as was the case with the yellow vests? Is it violence that moves the government?
A. I regret that in a democratic country, violence is more concerning than peacefully expressed social anger. Both must concern the government. If I propose a solution, it is because I think we should be responsible.
The president of the CFDT, Laurent Berger, was at the center of the leaders of the demonstration in Paris this Tuesday.Samuel Aranda
P. Macron also proposes a way out: let the democratic process take its course, let the Constitutional Court decide and talk about all the issues you raised, such as the quality of work. Why not accept?
A. He suggests talking about job burnout, retirement, older work. These are important issues to be included in the reform project. We proposed it in October with a major Work, Labor and Pension Act. They wanted to focus on pensions, saying it took “blood, sweat and tears”. And here we are. The boomerang returns.
Q. And if Macron does not agree to hit the pause button as he indicated, what will he do?
A. We are not biased. I will not land for demonstrations of 100,000 people, that would make no sense. We’ll see how workers and union teams respond. If we stopped today, they would continue. If the law were passed, I don’t know what would happen, but the anger, the resentment, the anger of some would shift to a different terrain. a political field.
Q. Is the only winner Marine Le Pen? Do you think the red carpet will roll for the 2027 presidential election?
A. I think the rocket has been launched, but now we need to prevent it from going into orbit. That means you have to wake up collectively. to national regrouping [RN, su partido] Pensions and social issues do not interest him, but he will use two sources that he has and that we know from other countries that fall into the hands of the far right: distrust in institutions and social resentment. And all this with a very neutral behavior in the National Assembly, a form of seriousness. So in other words, I’m concerned about acquiring the RN. Will it be in the presidential election? In the legislature? Don’t know. But there is still time to wake up and create hope, a direction. And that’s not what is being done. Where is the direction of those who lead us today? Isn’t there.
Q. Is there a lack of social democracy in France?
A. There has never been a real social democracy in France. Never enough a Michel Rocard, a Jacques Delors, a Pierre Mendès-France in power. But there was a space that gathered a social democracy. It’s a bit tricky today.
Q. Many dream of seeing you as the personification of this social democracy. Should one take on this responsibility, go into politics?
R. I am a trade unionist. I have no political whims. prevent [Le Pen] go into orbit, there are many people who can do that, and they are politicians. But if we had a situation of complete democratic madness and it was necessary at some point to think along, then of course it would be. I will not defect.
Protesters at Place de la Nation in Paris on Tuesday, March 28. Photo: Thibault Camus (Associated Press/LaPresse) | Video: EPV
Source: La Neta Neta
Karen Clayton is a seasoned journalist and author at The Nation Update, with a focus on world news and current events. She has a background in international relations, which gives her a deep understanding of the political, economic and social factors that shape the global landscape. She writes about a wide range of topics, including conflicts, political upheavals, and economic trends, as well as humanitarian crisis and human rights issues.
