Pensions: unions invited to Matignon, new day of mobilization on April 6

In the aftermath of a 10th day of action less extensive and also less chaotic than expected, the two parties give each other a little air to ease the tension with the prospect of this meeting, while the conflict in the street has entered in his third month.

From there to consider a way out of the crisis? There is a long way to go and the inter-union has planned an 11th day of action on April 6.

On Tuesday, the Ministry of the Interior counted 740.000 demonstrators throughout France, including 93.000 in Paris, the CGT "more than 2 million" including 450.000 in the capital.

Until then, the unions have an appointment with Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne. Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday? The date has not yet been decided but "we will go", revealed the N.1 of the CFDT Laurent Berger on TMC on Tuesday evening, visibly not unhappy with this little twist.

Wednesday, on France info, he insisted as the day before on his desire to put the subject of pensions on the table, adding that "if I am told: + you can not talk about it + (..) they will leave the room or then we'll leave".

The union official again put forward the proposal for mediation in the harsh pension dispute, the hypothesis of which had however been swept away by government spokesman Olivier Véran on Tuesday.

Matignon confirmed the invitation but made no comment on its agenda.

The Minister of Relations with Parliament Franck Riester and the president of the MoDem, François Bayrou warned on Wednesday that the question of raising the legal retirement age to 64 will not be on the menu of the meeting.

The postponement from 62 to 64, "this is the heart of the reform on which, from the start, there is no agreement", declared Mr. Riester on Public Senate, wishing that the exchange s organized around "topics on which we agree".

"The 64 years are in the text", added François Bayrou on France2, "we cannot change the line at this point".

While the decision of the Constitutional Council on the pension reform is expected within three weeks, and against a backdrop of rising violence, Elisabeth Borne, promised this weekend to "put some appeasement".

The CGT equation

At the Élysée, where Emmanuel Macron received the executives of the majority and the government on Monday, the head of state said he wanted to "continue to reach out to the union forces", but on other subjects than pensions, according to one participant.

And the executive to stand firmly on its position: the reform which provides for the postponement of the legal retirement age from 62 to 64 years old will apply. The heart of his project. Also that of protest.

Through the voice of Olivier Véran, the government again dismissed at the end of the Council of Ministers on Tuesday the hypothesis of a pause in the application of the reform. Member of the majority, the MoDem did not say no to the idea of ​​mediation.

According to Mr. Véran, nothing prevents "in the interval" of the decision of the Constitutional Council, "from starting to discuss the methods of application of the various elements of the text" which regularly sends more than a million people to the streets for two months.

If they do take place, will the reunion between government and unions only stage a dialogue of the deaf?

For Sébastien Chenu (RN), guest on RTL, the invitation made to the unions shows that "the popular movement carries and that the strategy of exhaustion that Emmanuel Macron is trying to put in place (...) will not work" .

Another given of the equation, the inter-union and the executive will have to do with a new direction of the CGT whose 53rd congress in Clermont-Ferrand takes place in a stormy atmosphere for the outgoing secretary general Philippe Martinez.

Asked about the presence of the CGT at the meeting at Matignon, Mr. Berger assured that "until last night, the CGT there was no reason not to go".