Friday, the third French union confederation elected a new secretary general: Frédéric Souillot. He takes the place of Yves Veyrier.
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Force Ouvrière (FO) has managed to overcome its propensity with divisions and quarrels. Friday, June 3, the third French union confederation elected a new secretary general in a climate of quasi-sereneity: Frédéric Souillot takes the place of Yves Veyrier, who did not stand out. The ballot, organized in Rouen as part of the XXV e congress of the Confederation, was played in advance, since there was only one candidate, the other pretender – Christian GROLIER – Having threw in the towel the day before. During the five days of debate, many executives and delegates have emphasized what brings them together, with a view to the next battles to lead against several reform projects – in particular that on pensions.
even before Mr. Grolier’s abandonment, Mr. Souillot was almost certain to prevail, since he benefited from the support of two weight allies: the “reformists” – who include the powerful federation of metallurgy, from which it comes – and a large part of the Trotskyists. His challenger was mainly supported by the anarcho-syndicalist current. This led to a clearly balance of power in favor of Mr. Souillot. An advantage reinforced by the fact that high officers of the organization had expressed their preference so that there is only one personality in the running. Negotiations were even engaged with Mr. Grolier so that he renounces to run for the number one chair. What he decided to do. “I told myself that the priority was that we were united (…) and I therefore withdrew my candidacy because it is first of all the interest of the organization,” he claims.
The desire to tighten ranks also expressed when Mr. Veyrier submitted to the voting of the delegates his activity report – a summary of the assessment of his mandate. The consultation turned to the plebiscite, with just over 98 % of favorable votes. We are far from the pitiful score carried out, in April 2018, by Jean-Claude Mailly, during the Lille Congress, when he was about to leave his secretary general chair: he had just obtained half of the votes cast , after being conspired by supporters of his successor, Pascal Pavageau. Six months later, the latter resigned, following the scandal triggered by the discovery of the existence of a file of FO officials, and Mr. Veyrier was elected, of a short head, facing Mr. Grolier and a third opponent, Patrice Clos.
“on good rails”
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