General Confederation of Labour (France)
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General Confederation of Labour | |
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| Founded | September 1895 |
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| Headquarters | 263, rue de Paris, 93100 Montreuil, France |
| Location |
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| Members | 640,000[1] (2022) |
General Secretary | Sophie Binet |
Publication |
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| Affiliations | ITUC, ETUC |
| Website | www.cgt.fr |
The General Confederation of Labour (French: Confédération Générale du Travail, CGT[a]) is a national trade union center, founded in 1895 in the city of Limoges. It is the first of the five major French confederations of trade unions.
It is the largest in terms of votes in the Labour Court elections (34.0% in the 2008 election), and second largest in terms of membership numbers.
Its membership decreased to 650,000 members in 1995–96 (it had more than doubled when François Mitterrand was elected president in 1981), before increasing today to between 700,000 and 720,000 members, slightly fewer than the Confédération Française Démocratique du Travail (CFDT).[2]
According to the historian M. Dreyfus, the direction of the CGT is slowly evolving, since the 1990s, during which it cut all organic links with the French Communist Party (PCF), in favour of a more moderate stance. The CGT is concentrating its attention, in particular since the 1995 general strikes, to trade-unionism in the private sector.[3]
History
[edit]The CGT was founded in 1895 in Limoges from the merger of the Fédération des bourses du travail (Federation of Labour Councils) and the Fédération nationale des syndicats (National Federation of Trade Unions). Auguste Keufer was amongst the founders and became the first treasurer.[4]
At the end of Henri Krasucki's term (1982–1992), he began to distance himself from the French Communist Party (PCF).[3] His successor, Louis Viannet, did the same, going as far as resigning from the political bureau of the party.[3]
CGT General Secretary Phillipe Martinez announced that the union will support the week of climate action beginning on 20 September 2019.[5]
In 2023, the CGT was involved in the interunion social movement against pension reform which organized strikes and protests in 300 towns across France, and wrote to Emmanuel Macron requesting negotiations, then, having not been received, mediation and a suspension of the 2023 French pension reform bill.[6][7][8][9]
On 18 June 2024, the CGT called for a vote for the New Popular Front (NFP) in the 2024 French legislative elections.[10] with the CGT General Secretary Sophie Binet also personally endorsing the NFP.[10][11] Céline Verzeletti, a senior CGT member and General Secretary of the Federal Union of State Trade Unions, was nominated by the NFP for Paris's 15th constituency.[12] The decision to endorse the NFP presented a turning point, since while the CGT has regularly called for a vote against the far right, in recent decades it has not called for people to vote for any specific party or bloc,[10][13] due in part to the CGT's Amiens Charter—which recognizes the independence of trade unions from political parties.[13]
Africa
[edit]In 1937 CGT began organizing workers in French West Africa. The union's functioning was interrupted by its banning by the Vichy regime, but in 1943-1948 a process of reconstruction took place. The main centers of activity were Senegal, Ivory Coast, Togo and the French Soudan. CGT had an upper hand in the Muslim regions in comparison to the rival French Confederation of Christian Workers, who depended on the presence of Catholic communities for its recruitment. CGT emerged as the major trade union force amongst the 100 000 strong organized labour force in Senegal and Mauritania after the Second World War.[14]
Within the CGT branches in the region, there was however a growing wish for independence. A leader of CGT in French West Africa, Bassirou Guèye, promoted this idea. At a meeting of the Territorial Union of Trade Unions in Senegal and Mauritania, held in Dakar 11 November – 12 November 1955, the majority of delegates voted for separation from the French CGT. A conference was held in Saint-Louis on 14 January – 15 January 1956 which formed the Confédération générale des travailleurs africains (CGTA), separating the parts of the West African CGT organizations from the French CGT. At the conference 50 out of 67 delegates had voted for separation.[15]
In Togo, CGT had 45,100 members in 1948 (65% of organized labour). By 1952 the number had decreased to 34,000 (46% of organized labour).[16]
CGT formed a branch in Madagascar in 1936.[17]
Publications
[edit]The CGT has two publications La Vie Ouvrière, and Le Peuple .
Affiliated organisations
[edit]Federations
[edit]Other affiliates
[edit]- Federal Union of State Trade Unions (UFSE-CGT)
- General Union of Engineers, Managers and Technicians CGT (UGICT-CGT)
- Confederation of CGT retirees' union (UCR-CGT)
- Young CGT
- National Committee for the Fight and Defense of the Unemployed
Former federations
[edit]| Affiliate | Abbreviation | Founded | Reason not affiliated | Year | Membership (1937)[19] | Membership (1946)[19] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Air, War and Navy Federation | 16,000 | 15,000 | ||||
| Bridge and Road Engineers' Federation | ||||||
| Clothing Federation | 1892 | Merged into THCB | 1985 | 110,000 | 74,000 | |
| Commercial Travellers' Federation | 6,000 | 20,000 | ||||
| Coopers' Federation | 18,000 | 18,000 | ||||
| Designers' and Technicians' Federation | Dissolved | 1945 | 79,000 | N/A | ||
| Federation of Employees | FEC | 1893 | Joined FO | 1947 | 285,000 | 200,000 |
| Federation of Workers in the Wood, Furniture and Allied Industries | Merged into FNSCBA | 2011 | ||||
| French Federation of Book Workers | FFTL | 1881 | Merged into FILPAC | 1982 | 60,000 | 55,000 |
| General Administration Federation | 23,000 | ? | ||||
| Glass Federation | 30,000 | 23,000 | ||||
| Hairdressers' Federation | 22,000 | 20,000 | ||||
| Hatters' Federation | 10,000 | 10,000 | ||||
| Jewellers', Goldsmiths' and Watchmakers' Federation | 12,000 | 8,000 | ||||
| National Education Federation | Became independent | 1947 | 101,000 | 150,000 | ||
| National Federation of Agricultural Workers | FNTA | 1920 | Merged into FNAF | 1981 | 156,000 | 290,000 |
| National Federation of Ceramic, Faience, Pottery and Kindred Industries | 36,000 | 20,000 | ||||
| National Federation of Construction Workers | FNTC | 1920 | Merged into FNSCBA | 2011 | 540,000 | 700,000 |
| National Federation of Energy | FNE | 1905 | Merged into FNME | 1999 | 80,000 | 105,000 |
| National Federation of Food, Hotels, Cafes and Restaurants | Merged into FNAF | 1981 | 300,000 | 300,000 | ||
| National Federation of Hides and Leather | 1893 | Merged into THCB | 1985 | 88,000 | 86,000 | |
| National Federation of Miners | FNTSS | 1883 | Merged into FNME | 1999 | 270,000 | 287,000 |
| National Federation of Paper and Cardboard | Merged into FILPAC | 1982 | 72,000 | 40,000 | ||
| National Federation of Textile Industry Workers | 1891 | Merged into THCB | 1985 | 360,000 | 270,000 | |
| Pharmaceutical Federation | 47,000 | 19,000 | ||||
| Tobacco and Matchworkers' Federation | 1948 | Merged into FNAF | 2008 | 14,000 | 12,000 | |
| Wood Federation |
Leadership
[edit]General Secretaries
[edit]| Year | Secretary |
|---|---|
| 1895 | Absalon Lagailse |
| 1898 | Maurice Copigneaux |
| 1900 | Victor Renaudin |
| 1901 | Eugène Guérard |
| 1901 | Victor Griffuelhes |
| 1909 | Louis Niel |
| 1909 | Léon Jouhaux |
| 1945 | Benoît Frachon and Léon Jouhaux |
| 1948 | Benoît Frachon and Alain Le Léap |
| 1957 | Benoît Frachon |
| 1967 | Georges Séguy |
| 1982 | Henri Krasucki |
| 1992 | Louis Viannet |
| 1999 | Bernard Thibault |
| 2013 | Thierry Lepaon |
| 2015 | Philippe Martinez |
| 2023 | Sophie Binet |
See also
[edit]
- 1995 strikes in France
- List of trade unions
- Anarchism in France
- Politics of France
- CGT-SR
- Trade unions:
- Mouvement des Entreprises de France
Footnotes
[edit]- ^ Dalton, Matthew; Bisserbe, Noemie (27 January 2023). "French Union Cuts Power to Pressure Macron on Pensions". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Archived from the original on 20 March 2023.
- ^ Numbers given by Michel Dreyfus, author of Histoire de la C.G.T., Ed. Complexes, 1999, interviewed in Pascal Riché, En prônant la négociation, la CGT "peut faire bouger le syndicalisme", Rue 89, 21 November 2007 (in French)
- ^ a b c Pascal Riché, En prônant la négociation, la CGT "peut faire bouger le syndicalisme", Rue 89, 21 November 2007 (in French)
- ^ "BnF Catalogue général". Bibliothèque nationale de France (in French). Retrieved 3 March 2017.
- ^ La CGT prépare deux journées d'action à la rentrée autour de l'urgence climatique, https://mobile.francetvinfo.fr/economie/syndicats/la-cgt-prepare-deux-journees-d-action-a-la-rentree-autour-de-l-urgence-climatique_3538113.amp Article in FranceInfo
- ^ Schofield, Hugh; Plummer, Robert (16 March 2023). "France pension protests: Clashes after Macron orders rise in pension age without vote". BBC News. Archived from the original on 16 March 2023. Retrieved 17 March 2023.
- ^ Chrisafis, Angelique (16 March 2023). "Macron uses special powers to force through plan to raise pension age". The Guardian. Paris. Archived from the original on 17 March 2023. Retrieved 17 March 2023.
- ^ Chrisafis, Angelique (17 March 2023). "French anger spreads after Macron forces pension age rise". The Guardian. Paris. Archived from the original on 21 March 2023. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
- ^ Dodman, Benjamin (17 March 2023). "Bitter pension battle turns to democratic crisis as Macron bypasses French parliament". France24. Archived from the original on 17 March 2023. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
- ^ a b c Kagni, Maxence (19 June 2024). "Législatives : la CGT appelle à voter pour le Nouveau Front populaire, que disent les autres syndicats et les organisations patronales?" [Legislative elections: the CGT calls for a vote for the New Popular Front, what do other unions and employers' organizations have to say?]. LCP - Assemblée nationale (in French). Retrieved 24 December 2024.
- ^ "Sophie Binet : « Cette fois, il ne suffit pas de dire non à l'extrême droite »" [Sophie Binet: “This time, it's not enough to just say no to the far right”.]. Alternatives économiques (in French). 21 June 2024. Retrieved 24 December 2024.
- ^ Jouve, Thierry (20 June 2024). "Législatives : la Haut-Pyrénéenne Céline Verzeletti candidate à Paris" [Legislative elections: Haut-Pyrénéenne candidate Céline Verzeletti in Paris]. La Dépêche du Midi (in French). Retrieved 24 December 2024.
- ^ a b "INFO RMC. "Historique": la CGT donne une consigne de vote en appelant à élire le Nouveau Front populaire". RMC (in French). Retrieved 24 December 2024.
- ^ Fall, Mar. L'État et la Question Syndicale au Sénégal. Paris: Éditions L'Harmattan, 1989. p. 24, 27
- ^ Fall, Mar. L'État et la Question Syndicale au Sénégal. Paris: Éditions L'Harmattan, 1989. p. 31–32
- ^ Fall, Mar. L'État et la Question Syndicale au Sénégal. Paris: Éditions L'Harmattan, 1989. p. 44
- ^ Busky, Donald F.. Communism in history and theory. Asia, Africa, and the Americas. Westport, Connecticut: Praeger, 2002. p. 128
- ^ "La CGT en bref". Institut superieur du travail. Archived from the original on 29 March 2020. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
- ^ a b Lorwin, Val (1954). The French Labor Movement. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press. pp. 324–325.
- ^ French pronunciation: [se ʒe te]
Further reading
[edit]- Ross, George. Workers and Communists in France: From Popular Front to Eurocommunism (1982).
External links
[edit]
- The beginnings of the CGT, 1895–1921 An account and analysis of the anarchist origins of the CGT, and the later rise of the Communist Party within it.
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