Faced with a weakened government, retirees in Aveyron are mobilizing to defend their purchasing power, Social Security, and a united retirement system. Despite the growing precariousness, the demonstrators denounce a liberal orientation threatening social achievements.
“What is happening at the moment will not prevent us from demanding!” insists Bruno Giuliani, spokesperson for the CGT and representative of retirees. Faced with a Barnier government in great difficulty, under the threat of motions of censure from La France Insoumise and the far right, retirees do not intend to be intimidated.
This Tuesday, December 3 in Rodez, in front of the Aveyron prefecture, around a hundred of them gathered to denounce the continued decline in their purchasing power and to defend Social Security, public services, and access to care. There were also around sixty people in Millau who responded to the national call and gathered in front of the office of Aveyron MP Jean-François Rousset.
Insufficient increases in the face of inflation
In the event of the fall of the government, pensions could be increased by 1.4%, in accordance with the Social Security law passed last year. However, if the government survives, the increase will only be 0.8% in January, followed by a second increase of 0.8% in July. Measures considered insufficient in a context where inflation reached 2.2%. The Aveyron inter-union association (Solidaires, CGT, CFE/CGC), like the 118 rallies organized throughout France, is sounding the alarm: nearly two million retirees live on less than €1,000 per month. “It’s simply misery,” denounces Giuliani.
Beyond the figures, the unions fear a shift towards a liberal model which would destroy the social pact and the pay-as-you-go pension system. “Compensation of purchasing power is a social contract enshrined in the Social Security law. The government must respect it”, insists the spokesperson. According to him, large companies and insurers are eyeing the 353 billion euros that pensions represent, or 13% of GDP, to establish a private system similar to that of the United States, where the bankruptcy of pensions has thrown away millions retirees on the street. Protesters also fear that these threats will undermine the confidence of younger generations in this model of solidarity. “Without this system, we would not have been as well protected during Covid or in the face of the hedge fund crisis,” they recall.
Finally, the Barnier government is facing criticism for concessions to the far right, notably the reduction of emergency aid to undocumented foreigners. A decision denounced by Bruno Giuliani: “If part of the population is not treated, it is the entire population which risks the consequences of epidemics”.
The demonstrators also castigated the large companies that took advantage of public money: “Michelin received 1.4 billion euros, Carrefour 500 million, while paying billions to shareholders. Result of this policy? 300,000 jobs threatened! “
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