LIVE – Pension reform: Véran says the number of protesters “doesn’t change things”

The general secretary of the CGT, Philippe Martinez, suggested this Sunday on RTL antennas to target blackouts on the properties of French billionaires who do not know “fuel poverty”.

“Billionaires must be made to live for hours, days, what millions of households live for”, he insisted, naming for example “Mr. Bolloré” among the potential targets.

A few days ago, in Télématin, Philippe Martinez had mentioned the fact “will see the beautiful properties and beautiful castles of billionaires”.

To the question: “Do you have a problem with billionaires?”, Philippe Martinez answered in the affirmative, referring to Elon Musk’s recent support for the “Emmanuel Macron” pension reform project, friends,” he concluded.

Responding to the words of CGT boss Philippe Martinez about “possible days of action” during the school holidays, Olivier Véran replied “not to block” and “not to prevent French people from living properly”.

Olivier Véran also believes that “being able to move freely is equally important” during the holidays as well as outside of that period.

RTL-LCI-Le Figaro Grand Jury guest, general secretary of the CGT, Philippe Martinez explained that “action days” and blockages are “possible” during the February school holidays, which are spread out by zone. Saturday 4th February to 6th March. This will happen “once the government is stubborn”, he says.

To promote “senior” employment, the government wants to create a similar “index” of gender equality in companies, a government spokesperson said. The reform stipulated that the “senior” percentage among the employees of the company in question would be published.

Asked about possible coercive measures for companies aimed at promoting the work of “seniors”, Olivier Véran replied “why not”: “we are open to proposals” from lawmakers on this subject, he told BFM on Sunday.

Without pension reform, Olivier Véran anticipates “an accumulated deficit of 150 billion euros by 2034”.

The state would then have to “fill in the 150 billion” and “the deficit would then widen year after year”, ultimately giving a system that was “unbalanced” and “dysfunctional”.

If the reforms are not passed, France risks “jeopardizing the pay-as-you-go pension system”, according to government spokesman Olivier Véran.

“We don’t want to increase debt or taxes,” he explained.

Therefore, the solution, according to the government, is “work more”.

In response to the number of demonstrators across France against the reforms (2 million Thursday according to the CGT, 1 million according to the police), Olivier Véran confirmed: “there will be 700,000 people or 1,300,000 people, it doesn’t change things for us.”.

“We are within the logic of explaining our project”, he added, saying to wait for the “parliamentary phase” to “get on with work”.

Government spokesman Olivier Véran said he had “a lot of empathy” for the photographer who had his testicles amputated after he was beaten by a police officer during Thursday’s demonstration against pension reform.

However, he emphasized the need to “understand the context”, even if “when we see the image we are always challenged”.

The government spokesman, Olivier Véran, is a guest of BFM Politique this Sunday.

You can follow the event here.

The president of National Rally, Jordan Bardella, on Sunday called for a referendum on pension reform and assured that his party would put forward an alternative project.

Affirming that the majority of the French people are against the measures proposed by the government, Bardella believes that “when you have this horizon in front of you, then you should go through a referendum”.

According to the MEP, the referendum “is a way to debate this text, to come out on top”. It will also “avoid clogging”, he said on Twitter.

The Minister for Labor, Olivier Dussopt, defended Sunday at JDD “redistributive” pension reforms intended to “restore maximum equality”.

The bill “will include a small pension reassessment for current retirees who have worked all their lives at the minimum wage, not just future ones”, who will receive “an increase in their pension of up to 100 euros per month”, explained Dussopt .

This would concern around 200,000 new retirees per year and “1.8 million current retirees”, he explained, compared to the two million listed so far.

Our article on his statement can be read here.

Despite “fundamental disagreements” with the unions, the Minister’s Delegate in charge of Public Accounts, Gabriel Attal, confirmed this Sunday in Parisian to be “confident that we can enrich the project together”.

“There is concern, doubt, opposition, among many French people. We are asking for effort, we have to admit it,” he admits.

Before continuing: “Why are we doing these reforms? To save our system. Who are we doing it for? Especially those who work hard and have no wealth other than what they have earned.”

Our article on Gabriel Attal’s statement can be read here.

After a march organized by a dozen youth organizations in Paris on Saturday, in which Jean-Luc Mélenchon participated, the latter presented his vision for continuing the fight against pension reform.

On his blog, he called for an “expansion” of the mobilization which would then enter a “second phase”.

“That will be one where the unions will decide on joint action with the rest of society by calling for dates for rallies and actions on Saturday or Sunday”, predicts the candidate from La France insoumise for the presidential election.

Our article on Mélenchon’s participation in Saturday’s procession can be read here.