The Secretary General proposed to be replaced, in 2023, by Marie Buisson, secretary general of the Education, Research and Culture Federation.
by
The General Confederation of Labor (CGT), once again takes up uncertainty for governance reasons. Its secretary general, Philippe Martinez, told members of the Confederal Bureau on Monday, May 30, that he will not seek a new mandate at the next union congress, scheduled for late March 2023, in Clermont-Ferrand. His choice was revealed on Tuesday morning by Les Echos , a few minutes before a meeting of the Confederal Executive Commission (CEC), during which he Explained himself for a long time, without convincing all of the assistance. Such a decision is, in itself, not quite amazing, but many activists are surprised to learn it that time. It occurs in a context where the organization is shaken by lively debates on the line to be held and on democracy within it.
In the text presented “in the introduction to the CEC”, Tuesday 31, which Le Monde became aware, Mr. Martinez assures that he “does not leave [his] responsibility neither constrained nor forced” and that he ” do not give in to any pressure “. Handing obeys the conviction that it is necessary, for a leader as for a union, “to renew himself”. The CGT must be “always more open to a world that moves,” he wrote, notably referring to “environmental concerns”. He recalls that the Confederation was involved in this theme by contributing to the creation, two years ago, of the collective never again, with other employee organizations (FSU, Solidaires) and environmental associations (Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth…).
Bold approach
Convinced that “we must strengthen the place of women in positions of responsibility”, Mr. Martinez proposes to be replaced by Marie Buisson, secretary general of the Education, Research and Culture of the CGT. This teacher is not well known internally. It was the subject of a CEC vote on Tuesday: thirty-two people spoke for, three against, while three abstained, and three did not take part in the consultation. Membership is clear, but not unanimous. Above all, this is only a first step: so that M bush becomes secretary general – which would be a first in the history of the organization -, it will have to obtain the Imprimatur of the National Confederate Committee (CCN), the “Parliament” of the CGT, during the Clermont-Ferrand Congress.
Mr. Martinez’s approach is daring, not to say reckless, because the personality he recommends to succeed him played a driving role in the coalition never again. However, good number of CGT members and executives, evolving in particular in the industry, question the rapprochement of their confederation with Greenpeace, which claims a nuclear power and a decarbonation of the economy, likely to question tens of thousands of jobs. The constitution of this alliance had already given rise to muscular discussions at a CCN meeting in June 2020. Disagreements, always topical, for reasons of fund and method.
You have 38.18% of this article to read. The continuation is reserved for subscribers.