LIVE. Failure of the pension conclave: threatened with censure, Bayrou tries one last card

CFDT Secretary General Marylise Léon has called on Prime Minister François Bayrou to take responsibility for the pension issue, stating that the unions will send him "the list of obstacles" so that he can make a decision "by the end of the week."

The three trade unions received at Matignon, CFDT, CFE-CGC and CFTC, agreed to transmit "the list of blockages" to the Prime Minister, who must "meet with the employers' organizations afterwards," said Ms. Léon as she left the meeting with François Bayrou. "The idea is that there will be no new negotiation session; it is up to the Prime Minister to take note and decide by the end of the week what to do with what is currently on the table."

For Marine Tondelier, Bruno Retailleau's presence at the Ministry of the Interior is enough to trigger a motion of censure of François Bayrou 's government. Under these conditions, she would be ready to censure: "Every week, every day that passes gives additional reasons to censure François Bayrou," the environmentalist assured this Tuesday on the Grandes Gueules platform.

But censorship will require the support of the National Rally: "But as soon as the system has to be brought down, there's no one left," she says. "They have to stop their hypocrisy."

For the national secretary of the Ecologists, Marine Tondelier, "the conclave has gone up in smoke." "It's four months lost and Prime Minister François Bayrou has bought time to do nothing," the regional councilor assured on the Grandes Gueules set.

"It was pushed through by the National Assembly and now it's pushed through by the social partners, it's no longer working," she insists on RMC and RMC Story .

Union representatives will meet with Prime Minister François Bayrou around 12 p.m. before a meeting between the head of government and the bosses at 1:45 p.m.

Medef's number one, Patrick Martin, stated that the employers' organization will "of course" go to Matignon, where the Prime Minister has invited the social partners who participated in the pensions conference to a meeting on Tuesday.

"It is important to maintain dialogue with the unions, with the government itself," Mr. Martin declared on franceinfo, referring to "the conviction (he has) with the Medef that social dialogue must continue and that social democracy must occupy its full scope."

According to the president of the Medef (French employers' association), "we did not spend 18 days of negotiations to show off or to create illusions," assuring that his organization participated in the negotiations in "good faith" and formulated "very robust, very serious" proposals.

On the set of Les Grandes Gueules , the president of U2P, the union of local businesses, Michel Picon, will not go to Matignon to discuss with François Bayrou: "We are not invited, we left the conclave 4 months ago," he assures on RMC Story .

"This is the chronicle of a failure that was predicted from the start. The conclave is simply a tool to prevent the political class from taking responsibility," concludes the U2P president.

Michel Picon believes that we must work on working conditions above all.

While Raphaël Glucksmann has just presented a draft program for 2027, the leader of the Socialist Party Olivier Faure calls on the left to "agree on a process for a common candidate for the left that goes from Glucksmann to Ruffin."

"We need to bring this space together and ensure that it is embodied when the time comes by one or the other," argues Olivier Faure, who assures that he discussed his announcement with Raphaël Glucksmann beforehand.

While Jean-Luc Mélenchon accuses the Socialist Party of "saving Bayrou," Olivier Faure is already warning that there will be "no agreement with Jean-Luc Mélenchon on the presidential election" in 2027.

"There will be no common candidate between La France Insoumise and the rest of the left," he continues.

But if there was "a threat from the far right, there could be a defensive agreement," however.

While Jean-Luc Mélenchon has assured that the Socialist Party is combining "to save Bayrou", Olivier Faure says he is "indifferent" to the comments of the leader of La France Insoumise: "It doesn't matter to me because we have never made up our minds about him."

"He is not the natural leader of the entire left, he is the leader of the Insoumis," recalls the head of the Socialist Party.

"I don't know if François Bayrou is naive, hypocritical, or incompetent, but I note that he makes commitments orally and in writing, and then doesn't keep them," says Socialist Party leader Olivier Faure.

"He is arming the Medef by allowing it to have this right of veto," adds the MP.

Socialist Party leader Olivier Faure is calling for a discussion on pension reform before the National Assembly: "I hope that parliament can have the final say and that there will be a discussion, the one that didn't take place three years ago because of Article 49-3 . And the only time parliament spoke was three weeks ago and it spoke in favor of a return to 62 years," he said on RMC-BFMTV .

"He had committed in writing that Parliament would have the final say. If Parliament is not consulted, if we are not given the opportunity to submit amendments, then indeed we will be heading towards censure," says Olivier Faure, leader of the Socialist Party.

"If his word is not reliable... We have reached out once, there will not be a second time and it will be clear."

"François Bayrou is not entirely innocent in this matter. From the outset, he himself held this conclave, believing that returning to 62 was impossible. Then last week, he reiterated that without an agreement, we would remain with the Borne reform," assures Olivier Faure.

"He gave a veto to the Medef (French employers' association), which used it last night. A right that was armed by François Bayrou himself. Seeing him stamping his feet and wanting to return to the discussion when he created the conditions for failure is absolutely irresponsible."

The pension conclave thus ended in failure. After four months of discussions, unions and employers failed to reach an agreement on changes to the pension reform, despite differing analyses and positions.

>> Our complete analysis of the conclave fiasco can be found here

Sophie Binet admits that she has not received an invitation at this time, but "clearly everything is being done in a completely improvised manner," she counters, considering that it would be a mistake if the CGT union were not invited.

"The Prime Minister must invite all representative organizations. The CGT and FO must be invited."

"We call on MPs to acknowledge the Prime Minister's betrayal of his word to them. It is up to them to decide the future of the country."

CFDT member Marylise Léon has announced that she will attend the Prime Minister's office on Tuesday for the meeting with social partners organized by Prime Minister François Bayrou following the failure of the pensions conference.

"I will be at Matignon," declared Ms. Léon. "We will not be negotiating with the Prime Minister," said the union representative, who pointed out the "heavy responsibility" of employers in the failure of the pension negotiations.

The CPME will "obviously" go to Matignon, "with the desire to find an agreement," assures Amir Reza-Tofighi.

"Yes, of course." Despite leaving the conclave in its early hours, Sophie Binet has just announced on RMC that she will go to Matignon if invited by François Bayrou to say that there is "no other way than to repeal the reform."

"This cannot be a matter of maneuvering, as the Prime Minister wants to do today. We feel that this morning there is panic on board at Matignon, his only objective is to extend his lease," she accuses.

"He did nothing to make the discussions conclusive; on the contrary, he put obstacles in our way," she said, also wanting to "bang his fist on the table in the face of the employers who think they can do whatever they want."

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The conclave thus turned into a fiasco, after more than 7 hours of discussions, interspersed with 2 suspensions... After 4 months of discussions to try to improve the pension reform, unions and employers acknowledged the failure, late yesterday evening, passing the buck for the impasse.

"It has been noted that employers will not budge on compensation for hardship (i.e., opening up to early retirement, editor's note). This is a failure of the negotiations," declared Yvan Ricordeau, representative of the CFDT. "The discussion is over," he added after the last meeting.

Hello everyone and welcome to this Live, which will discuss the aftermath of the failed pension conclave that ended Monday evening.

"I can naturally understand that we see a failure when we have radically different or opposing positions. But I cannot accept without reacting that we are satisfied with failing so close to the goal," the Prime Minister affirmed in a short statement from the Hôtel Matignon a few hours after the social partners acknowledged their inability to reach an agreement.