France: Education trade unions join massive mobilisation against unfair pension reforms

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The Macron Government proposes to move towards a universal pension system for all based on “points” accrued every working year, which will have an unpredictable value at the time of retirement. Teachers will be especially affected and could lose up to 30% of the value of their pension. ETUCE stands with teachers and other education personnel taking part in today’s interprofessional strike.

The Macron Government proposes to move towards a universal pension system for all based on “points” accrued every working year, which will have an unpredictable value at the time of retirement. Teachers will be especially affected and could lose up to 30% of the value of their pension. ETUCE stands with teachers and other education personnel taking part in today’s interprofessional strike.

The proposed reforms would abolish the current system whereby teachers’ pensions are based on a fixed proportion of their salary during their final 5 working years. In the future the value of their contributions across their careers will be used to calculate the value of pension payouts upon retirement, according to an unpredictable formula. Teachers have significantly lower salaries than other civil servants with the same qualifications, especially in the early years, which means that the move would hit them disproportionately hard. Education trade unions have long demanded meaningful negotiations on higher teacher salaries, which would go some way to correcting this, but the government refuses to engage.

ETUCE’s European Director, Susan Flocken, offered “support to the working people and trade unions in France as they stand up against this deeply unfair reform of the pension system. We are especially in solidarity with our member organisations in the education sector, where staff would be hit particularly hard by these changes.”

Various ETUCE member organisations are participating in the strikes, and they explained why the issue is so vital.

Christian Chevalier is responsible for European and international issues at UNSA-Education and a member of ETUCE’s Committee. He says that “UNSA-Education is not in principal opposed to the establishment of a universal pension system. However, we do demand that the government follows through on the promises made by the President and Prime Minister offering sufficient guarantees and concrete signs that this reform, which we did not ask for, does not penalise our colleagues.”

Frédérique Rolet, General Secretary of SNES-FSU, explains that "this reform project would be a change in social model which shatters all our collective solidarities, creating uncertainty about the level of future pensions. Our professions would be particularly affected by the new system because of the weak early-career salaries and the lack of bonuses.”

Francette Popineau, co-General Secretary of SNUipp-FSU, says that “schoolteachers would be among those who lose the most from this reform, with a reduction in their pension of around €300-€900 every month. They would then face the triple impact of losing final-salary pensions, weak salaries and the near total absence of additional allowances in their pay packets. And women, who make up the vast majority of the profession, would be punished even more because of their less linear careers.”

The CGT, which incorporates the ETUCE member organisation FERC-CGT insists that “The Macron government, with these pension proposals, has successfully brought together all the anger in this country. We me must fight, in the most firm and resolute way possible, the dismantling of our social model, the destruction of our social rights, the widening inequalities and the increasing the number of poor or precarious workers. Another way is possible.”

Yves Veyrier, General Secretary of the Force Ouvrière (FO), which ETUCE member organisations FNEC.FP-FO and SNETAA-FO are part of, highlighted the fact that his union has reminded the Prime Minister why they are so opposed to the points-based pension regime. They also set out our demands for preserving and improving the current system. However, the latest consultations “have not moved the debate one jot. What is worse, even though the government originally told us that the universal points-based system did not aim to make savings or change the retirement age, they are no longer talking about anything but this.”