Emmanuel Macron addressed the French yesterday, in a televised address of just over 13 minutes, to tell them that he is aware of the social anger that has caused the pension reform, but he insisted that "these changes were necessary" to guarantee retirements and avoid a deficit that new generations would have to pay.
The President of the Republic completely disappointed his critics, especially the trade unions, because in his words there was not a hint of backtracking or concession, and not a single truly innovative announcement. In some cities, pan concerts were organized to express the rejection. It does not seem that his message was enough to calm the serious social crisis of the last months.
The general secretary of the main union, the French Democratic Confederation of Labor (CFDT), Laurent Berger told BFM-TV that Macron was left "in a kind of vacuum", "without anything concrete", "with little empathy", showing that he has not understood the state of the country. The new leader of the General Confederation of Labor (CGT), Sophie Binet, spoke in similar terms and warned that without going back on pensions there will be no "return to normality". "Which planet does he live on?" Binet asked himself in the studios of the LCI chain. The trade unionist accused Macron of "dogmatic and ideological attitude".
The presidential intervention did not include any ambitious political initiative to break the deadlock and guarantee stability in the National Assembly with a new pact that ensures a majority for its projects. However, the president outlined his roadmap in areas such as labor relations, improving justice and democratic quality, regulating immigration and other matters that were already known.
The Head of State invited employers and unions to the Élysée to discuss working conditions and remuneration, the employment of workers over 60 and the progress of professional careers. The aim is to seal a "new pact of working life". The unions are not for work at the moment. Irritated by the way in which the pension reform was approved, without consensus and by decree, they are concentrating on a massive protest on May Day. His spirit is still one of street defiance, not negotiation.
Macron claimed achievements such as the creation of 1.7 million jobs in six years and the country's attractiveness for foreign investment. He even congratulated himself on the good pace of the reconstruction of the Notre-Dame cathedral, four years after the fire that devastated it, but this was not what the country expected after months of great tension, of strikes , mobilizations and continuous disturbances in the street. The president wanted to be solemn, as is usual for him and because he is included in the position, although they were rhetorical reflections and difficult to specify, such as saying that "the answer cannot be neither in immobility nor in extremism ".
