The National Federation of Retired Workers of French Savings Banks held its 23rd National Assembly in Evian, by the shore of the Léman Lake, from the 23rd to the 25th of September 2010, by means of the invitation of the regional president Gérard Lambert (member of the National Office).
The Executive Committee and the Administrative Board met on September 23rd.
The General Assembly was held on September 24th with the presence of:
Ø Ms. Sophie Sabran, manager of Institutional Affairs in Caisse d’Épargne Rhone Alpes
Ø Ms. Maryvonne Lyazid, deputy director of the foundation Cajas de Ahorros por la Solidaridad.
Ø Mr. Hervé Tillard, president of the National Association of Savings Banks, a collaborator of the group Caisse Épargne.
Ø Mr. José Roberto López, Presient of the European Group, a regular presence in the French Assemblies, could not attend the meeting because of his health problems.
Ms. Josiane Ley, deputy mayor in Evian, opened the sessions by alluding to the different faces of Evian, a beautiful tourist site placed near Switzerland, by the lake Léman, and also a historic place that reminds us of the Evian Agreements that ended the war between France and Algeria in 1962.
The 200 delegates of the 19 French regions that represent the 5000 federation members dealt with several topics, such as social protection, citizenship and solidarity.
The delegates are aware of the world financial crisis causing instability and precarious situations in the financial market. At a national scale, the crisis is creating high unemployment rates, which are too heavy for the Social Security, and affects mostly the weakest and poorest people. The delegates expressed their determination to favour solidarity in all their actions, both in a national context and in the group Caisse d'Epargne.
The debates dealt with the next subjects in a lively and constructive way:
Retirement and the important reforms currently debated in Parliament:
Ø The maintenance of the pay-as-you-go plan and the search for the equilibrium of management in the medium and long term
Ø The notion of penalty
Ø Taxation of pensions
Ø Solidarity between generations
The complementary protection of health:
Ø The concerns for the financing of the Disease section in Social Security.
Ø The development of mutual health companies
Citizenship of retired workers
Once again, the delegates demanded the presence of retired workers in the management department for complementary pensions of Caisse d’Epargne, where the decisions that concern them are made.
Being absent due to health problems, José Roberto López, president of the European Group, sent a statement that was read by Jean Claude Chrétien. The delegates applauded the analyses of the crisis developed in the speech. The motion of resolutions that will be the waybill for the French Federation in 2010/2011 included an appeal for the unity of actions between the national Federations, the European Group and AGE Platform Europe.
Jean Claude Chrétien insisted again on the collaboration between the European Group and AGE Platform Europe. He reminded us of the essential contribution of the Group and mentioned the syntheses carried out in Sciacca, Albufeira, Santander and Toledo about the discrimination against the elderly and solidarity between generations, concepts that AGE has taken up again.
The president Jean Yves Martin and the delegates gathered in Evian expressed his best wishes for José Roberto López to recover as soon as possible.
Jean Claude Chrétien
Deputy President
