To avoid being censured, Lecornu had no choice but to throw the Socialist Party a bone to chew. He did so by promising to put part of the 2023 pension reform on hold¹.

Workers born in 1964 and 1965 could gain a few months of retirement. But nothing has been decided yet. Politicians are still squabbling over how to enact this into law. And if it does happen, the government will make us pay for it, with the complicity of the Socialist Party.

The budget proposed to Parliament is a budget of war against workers. War against public sector workers who will face a new wage freeze. War against apprentices who will have to pay social security contributions on their meagre wages. War against disabled workers whose social security benefits will be frozen.

War is also being waged against retirees who will see their pensions frozen, or even cut, with the end of the 10% tax deduction. The majority of pensioners aren't privileged people living off the younger generations! They are women and men who worked all their lives for a small salary and who often find themselves with a pension of around 1,000 to 1,300 euros to live on!

And it’s a war on the sick, who will have to contribute 7 billion euros to the budget. Therefore, this measure will mean the extension and possible doubling of medical deductibles, which could amount to 350 euros per year. There will also be a double penalty for patients with long-term illnesses since they’ll have to pay taxes on their daily allowances. On top of that, hospitals, the budgets of which aren't keeping up with the growing needs of an aging population, will have to face new cuts.

Every day brings a new blow against us, and some of these attacks don't even need to be voted on since they can be imposed by simple decree. For example, the government is planning to raise the age at which children are eligible for family allowances from 14 to 18. Every month, the poorest families will lose 75 euros per child!

These restrictions won't prevent the wealthiest people from receiving medical care or raising a large family. However, for the lowest-paid and most precarious workers who are counting every euro they spend, it's a matter of basic needs.

Lecornu isn't preparing a budget “for France” but for the bourgeoisie. This very budget continues to ensure the transfer of billions of public money into its coffers. For him it's out of the question to reconsider the annual 211 billion euros in subsidies to the bosses. And it's even out of the question to force the ultra-rich to pay the taxes to which they are theoretically subject!

The wealthiest individuals, those targeted by the Zucman tax proposal because they own more than 100 million euros in assets, have been crying scandal as if they were about to be burned alive. And they’ve won their case!

They say they only own businesses and land, and have no cash. Well, let's make transparent all the properties and the money circuits that allowed the bourgeoisie to accumulate them, and we’ll find enough money to pay for this ridiculously small 2% tax!

The Lecornu budget is also preparing for war, plain and simple. While the military budget has already increased from 30 to 57 billion euros between 2017 and today, the government is planning a further increase of 7 billion euros.

So, let’s leave the Socialist Party to gnaw on the bone thrown by Lecornu! They've proven for decades that they aren’t on the workers’ side. And let's not be poisoned by the bosses' propaganda relayed by the government!

The capitalist class has been imposing a life of exploitation on us. It is throwing an ever-increasing proportion of workers into poverty and unemployment, to secure exorbitant fortunes and privileges for itself. But we aren't doomed to submit to the law of profit and big capital.

Against the parasitism and irresponsibility of political leaders and wealthy owners towards society as a whole, let's affirm our goals as workers.

The state's debt isn't that of the workers, it's that of the capitalists, so it's up to them to pay it off! We don't want any more unemployed people in this country. We must share work without loss of pay, by drawing upon profits and extravagant dividends! We need money for hospitals, not for Dassault, and money for salaries, not for war!

Nathalie Arthaud