“In general, people know they have to work a little harder“, argued the French president, who made a appeal to “common sense”.
“It is not true to say that we can keep the same (retirement) ages, that does not work“, he stressed and remarked that it is necessary raise the retirement age from 62 to 64 to maintain a system that he described as “a treasure” and as “the patrimony of those who have nothing”.
“Work must continue and be better paid,” emphasized Macron, who opted to “adapt” the labor reality.
“When you work at night and carry weight after a certain age, it is necessary that (labor) careers evolve, that one can work less or that one can retrain and that this be taken into account with a view to retirement”, he concluded.
Last week, The reform that raises the retirement age promoted by the Government automatically passed to the Senateafter the National Assembly (lower house) could not come to a vote.
The first reading of the text concluded last Saturday without being able to evaluate a large part of the content due to the numerous amendments presented by the left-wing formation La Francia Insumisa (LFI), in a context of time limited by the controversial procedure chosen by the Government that allows it to apply the reform at the end of March, if the two chambers of Parliament do not speak.
Among the points that could not be addressed, the main one is the article 7 which establishes the increase in the minimum retirement age from 62 to 64 years and what caused so far five demonstrations throughout the French territory.
Now the full Senate will debate from March 2 the proposal to delay the retirement age by 2030 in France.
Two out of three French people opposeaccording to polls, and the Last January 31, the largest protest against a social reform in three decades took place.
One of the largest mobilizations in France took place in the first week of February, although there is no consensus on the number of attendees. According to the Ministry of the Interior, more than 757 thousand people participated, while according to the CGT almost two million marched.
The unions seek to increase the pressure as of March 7, with extendable strikes, and the opponents charge against a project that would harm the popular classes.
If by March 26 the two Chambers fail to rule on the textthe procedure used would allow the government to apply the reform anywayalthough it runs the risk of increasing social discontent.
The Government defends raising one of the lowest retirement ages in Europe as a way of avoid a deficit in the pension fund.
Source: Ambito
