Around a hundred retirees mobilized in Cherbourg to defend their purchasing power

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No savings on the backs of retirees! It was the rallying cry of a hundred people, this Tuesday, December 3 at 10:30 a.m., Republic Square in Cherbourg.

A national appeal was launched by nine retirees unionsfour of which are represented in the Some : CGT, FO, CFTC and FSU. A demonstration was also planned in Saint-Lô at 10:30 a.m.

It was André Picot of the CGT, general secretary of the Manche Union of Retirees, who took the microphone on the steps of Cherbourg town hall to reiterate the demands.

Once again, the government has decided not to increase basic pensions in line with inflation on January 1, 2025, as the Social Security Code requires it to do. We protest against the revaluation project based on half of inflation on January 1, with a catch-up in July for pensions below the minimum wage.

“A loss of purchasing power”

While a petition was circulating among the ranks (31,000 signatures were counted nationally on the internet), the CGT assured that “this measure would penalize all retirees since it would result in a loss of purchasing power over the first six months of the year, a loss which would be extended throughout 2025 and subsequent years. This would be combined with losses already suffered for years because remember that since January 2017, pensions have only increased by 13.6% for inflation of 19.5%. Retirees have lost the equivalent of more than three months of pension and up to 4.5 months for those who suffered the 2018 CSG increase.”

The retirees we met consider this pension freeze all the more unfair as the government is considering several measures – as part of the Social security financing bill for 2025 – which may call into question access to care, particularly for the most fragile and elderly.

The cost of care

“That is to say, the questioning of the care of ALD (Editor’s note: long-term conditions), the increase in deductibles, the increase in co-payments, the increase in supplementary health contributions which are already particularly high for retirees…”

In any case, given the current political situation, everyone agrees that it is “the big blur”. In the meantime, the unions recalled that they knew where to find the money: “The government is procrastinating to increase taxation of big business profits like that of the most grosses fortunes. He still refuses to reverse the exemptions from employer social security contributions which cost more than 70 billion each year. These exemptions, far from serving employment, place a significant burden on the Social Security budget and mainly benefit shareholders. Thus, the share of the 500 richest people increased from 28% of GDP in 2018 to 42% in 2023.”

The procession then set off towards rue Emmanuel-Liais to submit the motion to the sub-prefecture of Cherbourg.

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