The conference "on the balance and funding" of pension plans officially started on Tuesday, but where to go? In the wall, believes in substance Yves Veyrier. “These meetings are doomed to fail, deplores the secretary general of Force Ouvrière (FO), contacted by phone. Because the essential objective is to divert attention from the current debates on the vote of the law in the Parliament ”. And to add: “My union will not take part in this announced sinking. When the time comes, we will take responsibility. ” In other words: FO could be tempted to leave the negotiating table.
The CGT is already - more or less - on this line. On Wednesday, the cégétiste central announced that it would no longer take part in this conference, whose heavy task is to bring the pension funds back into balance by 2027. Before changing its mind, indicating a few hours later , in a press release, that the question of its participation will be asked "next week in its governing bodies", if the government does not act on its proposals. In short, an ultimatum.
At this stage, a figure serves as a real bone of contention between the unions and the government: the one that serves as a working base, the 12 billion euros deficit in the general pension plan in 2027. FO and the CGT reject it en bloc, when the CFDT considers that financial balance "is not the priority of the moment".
A strict financial framework imposed by the government
Michaël Zemmour, lecturer at Paris-1 University, participated in this first meeting. Present as an expert - at the invitation of the CGT - the economist came to provide additional diagnosis on the costing. "Today, there is no financial risk for the pension system," he explains. There is no good reason to go after 12 billion euros for 2027, because there are reserves and new resources will be available in the meantime. Worst ! By engraving in stone that from 2025, the pension funds must be balanced over five years, the law prevents the system from being a socio-economic and social shock absorber ”.
On arrival, the protesting unions camped on their positions, deploring "a too strict framing of the debates, which prevents playing on the cost of labor". The boss of Medef, said that "at least 90% of the effort must relate to age", that is to say, an extension of the time spent in employment. Suffice to say that the positions of each other do not come close ... But the reformist unions - CFDT and Unsa in mind - pretend to believe it again.
If the conference is unsuccessful and the social partners fail to agree on an alternative to the pivotal age, the government will take over. A scenario reminiscent of that of the unemployment insurance reform of 2018. In the end, access to benefits had been tightened and the unions, all, had felt losers.