CFDT: Marylise Léon and officials “angry” at a government that “doesn’t listen to them”

Prime Minister François Bayrou had spoken earlier at this summer university in Boissy-la-Rivière (Essonne). The deputies, who are due to vote on confidence in the government on September 8 , have "thirteen days" to "say whether they are on the side of chaos or on the side of responsibility," he declared. In front of journalists, he seemed to think that the opposition's decision not to grant him confidence was not irreversible and he called on them to reflect.

The discussion on unpopular measures (tax blank year, freeze on social benefits, elimination of two public holidays, etc.) will be "a different stage" with the social partners and with Parliament, François Bayrou reiterated. He reaffirmed that the highest incomes and "those who optimize their taxes" would be asked to make a "specific effort" for the 2026 budget. And he proposed entrusting the management of old-age insurance to the social partners if the Assembly allows him to continue his task.

"Letting us manage is fine, but we need to be able to decide the rules," Marylise Léon told the press. For Marylise Léon, "whatever the outcome of the vote on September 8 or September 9, the budget issue will be the same." She also warned that the CFDT would not participate in the negotiations on the elimination of two public holidays. "I have the feeling that the Prime Minister is off the mark; in terms of his rhetoric, it's not what employees expect," said Laure Lamoureux, general secretary of the CFDT Chimie-Énergie, regarding François Bayrou's press conference on Monday.

"We sense a lot of anger among employees," she added. "They feel misunderstood, unheard," she added. "We've just had a summer where we've had a string of job protection plans, liquidations, and corporate receiverships," added Adrien Guellec, national secretary and treasurer of the Services Federation. "We're still quite pessimistic about the start of the school year."