" Nothing has been decided yet ". Philippe Martinez was confident during an interview with the newspaper La Croix published on Monday, convinced that the movement against pension reform still has a bright future ahead of him. "The more we advance, the less this reform is clear and the debates in Parliament are far from finished ", commented the secretary general of the CGT, while the examination of the bill by a special commission of the National Assembly must end this Tuesday. The reform will then be studied in public session at the National Assembly, from Monday, February 17.
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" I am pleasantly surprised by what is happening in this country, " added the trade unionist evoking a torchlight demonstration in Perpignan but also the mobilization in public hospitals. " There is creativity and originality in this movement ", even if he recognized that the mobilization in the private sector could be higher: " There are strikes. Not at the level I would like, but there are. Then I understand all those who can't make ends meet and for whom an hour of strike is a less full cart at the end of the month . ”
“Local unionism”
Philippe Martinez went back on his opposition to the retirement reform desired by the government, giving some tracks on the alternative advocated by the CGT: " finance a more united retirement system " by solving the problem of wage inequality, by increasing wages to “ naturally increase contributions ” or by reviewing the “ exemptions for employers on low wages ”. The trade unionist would also like the return of a legal age to 60 years, even if that does not " mean a compulsory departure at 60 years ". However, he kicked in touch regarding the CGT's participation in the governance of the future pension system: “ What I know does not inspire confidence in me. Afterwards, I don't decide on my own and we will see when the time comes . ”
To achieve his goals, Philippe Martinez calls for "local unionism ". “ We cannot spend our lives with ministers, at the risk of becoming an institution ourselves. The essence of our unionism is to be next to the employees and to listen to them to know the reality ", he specified, before confiding:" I often say internally: we have a mouth and two ears, what should serve twice as much? ".
The secretary general of the CGT also mentioned the place of trade unionism today in France, admitting that " the world of work " was changing. “ We were interested in those who had a work contract, and more and more workers do not have one! We are behind on this ground. We are sometimes a little too dogmatic ”, he recognized.
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