Pensions: CFDT activists jostle Laurent Berger, their number one

Laurent Berger at the opening of the 50th CFDT congress, in Lyon, June 13, 2022. JEFF PACHOUD / AFP CFDT activists have just issued a strong warning to their number one, Laurent Berger, and to the close guard of the latter, on the question of pensions. Gathered in congress in Lyon since Monday, June 13, the unions of the central cedist obtained, Thursday, against the opinion of their confederal authorities, that the roadmap of their organization be rewritten, because they considered it ambiguous: in their eyes , this text – called “general resolution” internally – could suggest that they were ready to accept an extension of the contribution period to receive a full pension. They wanted to close the door to this hypothesis by defending an amendment which was adopted by just over 67% of the votes. A very clear majority, which shows that many members expect a very firm position from their leaders in the face of Emmanuel Macron’s project to make the population “work longer”. Read also: Article reserved for our subscribers The CFDT tries to regain a central place in the dialogue with the executive The debate focused on a few words of the general resolution which reaffirm that the CFDT allows an increase in the duration of contributions for meet the increase in life expectancy. On the part of the cedists, this has been a constant position for at least ten years. It had also led the confederation to give its imprimatur to the “Touraine law” of January 2014, which gradually increases to 172 quarters the duration of affiliation required to receive a full pension. But the wording retained in the resolution was considered ambiguous, in particular by the Interco-CFDT union of the Somme. It “could fuel an unjust reform, especially at this time”, as stated Thursday afternoon, its secretary general, Arnaud Espel, whose intervention was greatly applauded by the audience. “Is it up to us and, above all, is it the right time to go back to the parameters? he wondered. Other components of the plant had expressed the same apprehensions on the eve of the opening of the congress. “In line with public opinion” Frédéric Sève, national secretary in charge of the file, tried to dispel these fears, recalling that the offending sentence was only “repeating” a doctrine forged a long time ago. “It is still relevant, it identifies us, it is consistent with our values, it is also in tune with public opinion, he pleaded. We don’t need to change it to counter government projects, quite the contrary. The day before, Mr. Berger had dotted the “i’s” even more clearly. “We do not (…) intend to validate an extension of the contribution period beyond what is provided for by the Touraine law, which will take full effect in 2034”, had hammered the secretary general of the confederation. And to launch in the room: “My friends, no useless alert, no bad debates between us, no baseless fear. You have 33.81% of this article left to read. The following is for subscribers only.