The executive authority justifies its project by the need to address the financial deterioration of pension funds and the aging of the population, but opponents see it as “unfair”, especially for women and workers in hard jobs.
Laurent Berger, Secretary General of the French Democratic Confederation of Labor, said on Monday that he opposes any disruption of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, in protest of the government’s approval of the controversial pension reform.
And after the hashtag #pasderetraitpasdejo occupied the list of the most traded on Twitter, the “France 2” reporter asked the trade union official about the calls that had recently appeared on social networks threatening to disrupt the 2024 Olympic Games, if the government decided to preserve the pension reform law.
In response, Berger said, “The Olympic Games should be a celebration, a magical moment for those who are passionate about sports. It is absolutely out of the question to make this kind of threat or follow these methods during the Olympics.”
He continued, “The union has an image that has been improved during this period, and it has shouldered its share of responsibility. We said things frankly, sometimes with some harshness, but we never crossed red lines..I am not with standing in the way of the smooth running of the Olympics.”
And a page called the “yellow vests” posted a tweet on Twitter, stating that “the Paris Olympic Games 2024 will not take place.”
And after the publication of the decree reforming the retirement system, which specifically stipulates raising the retirement age to 64 years in the Official Gazette on Saturday, Berger expressed Saturday his regret for “contempt for workers.”
The Secretary-General of the General Confederation of Labor (CGT), Sophie Binet, condemned the “disgraceful” decision.
On Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron is scheduled to address the French.
After the Constitutional Council’s decision to ratify the text on Friday, the unions “officially” asked Macron, who had fifteen days to activate the text, “not to issue the law.”
“The desire to move quickly appears to be a provocation,” said Frederic Soyo of the “Manpower” union.
And the head of the Socialist Party, Olivier Faure, considered Saturday that issuing the text quickly indicates “contempt”, pledging “democratic harassment” in order to reverse the increase in the retirement age from 62 to 64 years.
And the Elysee announced on Saturday afternoon that the head of state would address the French on television on Monday evening with “the logic of appeasement” and “to also consider what has been achieved besides pensions,” according to government spokesman Olivier Ferrand, referring to the decrease in unemployment and taxes and the increase in the number of trainees.
The social movement, which is one of the most important in recent decades, began after the presentation of the reform draft on January 10, with mass demonstrations, while the text is being studied in Parliament in a very tense atmosphere between the government, which does not have an absolute majority in Parliament, and the opposition.
France adopts one of the lowest retirement ages in European countries.
The executive authority justifies its project by the need to address the financial deterioration of pension funds and the aging of the population, but opponents see it as “unfair”, especially for women and workers in hard jobs.
