Force ouvrière criticises European integration process at annual congress
At the end of June 2007, the French General Confederation of Labour – Force ouvrière held its 21st confederal congress in the northern city of Lille. The majority of the 2,500 delegates approved the report on past activities covering the period 2004–2006. Newly re-elected General Secretary Jean-Claude Mailly used the opportunity to criticise the process of European integration on account of the over-emphasis on the economy and free competition to the detriment of labour issues.
Election results
The General Confederation of Labour – Force ouvrière (Confédération générale du travail – Force ouvrière, CGT-FO) held its confederal congress from 23 to 27 June 2007 in the city of Lille in northern France.
Immediately after the congress, on 28 June, Jean-Claude Mailly – the only candidate for the post – was unanimously re-elected as General Secretary, gaining 100% of the votes of the National Confederal Committee (Comité confédéral national, CCN), which serves as the confederation’s ‘parliament’. For this second term of three years, besides the general secretary, 12 other members of the Confederal Bureau – the trade union confederation’s 13-person executive body – were elected, including four new members and a total of five women. The latter results represent an increase on the three female officers elected in the previous term.
The congress took place a few weeks after the French presidential and parliamentary elections. In May 2007, the French population elected Nicolas Sarkozy as the new President of the Republic; the following month, the Members of Parliament were elected, giving a majority to the party of President Sarkozy – the People’s Movement Party (Union pour un mouvement populaire, UMP).
Report on past activities 2004–2006
Mr Mailly gave an almost two-hour presentation of his first report of past activities since he was originally elected as General Secretary of CGT-FO in February 2004 (FR0403103N). During the presentation, the confederation leader told the approximately 2,500 delegates that CGT-FO’s identity continues to be based on ‘union independence’, as defined in the Charter of Amiens (FR0612029I).
He criticised the European integration process for putting too much emphasis on the economy and free competition, thereby leading to privatisation, notably of public services – to the detriment of labour issues. In the opinion of Mr Mailly, the adoption of a simplified European treaty, which was proposed by the new French president in the summer of 2007, ‘does not solve everything’, as ‘it is necessary to re-examine previous treaties, and especially the Stability and growth pact’. In October 2007, the European Council in Lisbon adopted the final text of the new Reform Treaty.
Some 130 delegates took the floor to speak to the CGT-FO assembly over the course of two days, including about 20 young people attending their first congress. The speakers openly congratulated the confederation for its work since 2004. The metalworker, food and tobacco, and agriculture federations, which were most reserved about the confederation’s policies in 2004, supported the report on past activities, which was approved by 97.7% of the delegates.
About 50 or more trade union leaders from six continents spoke to the congress, including Guy Rider of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and John Monks of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC). The union leaders emphasised the importance of CGT-FO’s involvement at international level. A great majority of delegates agreed on the importance to mention, in CGT-FO’s rules, its affiliation to ITUC.
Confederation structure
Among the major policies approved, CGT-FO trade union activists maintained that:
grass roots activity, an active presence at all levels of bargaining (intersectoral, sectoral and company), the number of members throughout the country, its independence (especially financial independence) and its democratic way of functioning are decisive for defining the representativeness of a confederation, which will not just rely on votes in elections of whatever sort.
The confederation is composed of 15,000 workplace union sections that are part of 103 trade union councils at regional level (union départementale, UD) and 33 sector-level federations. It pays contributions to international trade union organisations on the basis of 800,000 members.
During the recent workplace elections, CGT-FO was second or third after the General Confederation of Labour (Confédération générale du travail, CGT) and the French Democratic Confederation of Labour (Confédération française démocratique du travail, CFDT), achieving the following results:
- 18.2% of the votes at the 2002 industrial tribunal (Conseils de Prud’hommes) elections (FR0301107F);
- 17% on average at the last civil service elections;
- 12.6% at the works council (Comité d’entreprise, CE) elections in 2004–2005.
For the first time, the congress adopted a resolution on membership with a roadmap ‘which invites each union activist, regardless of their particular responsibility’ to conserve, reinforce and develop trade union sections, notably through specific action aimed at young people. From 3 July to 27 August 2007, the confederation planned an information campaign on the rights of seasonal workers, including legal advice sessions in several foreign languages.
Trade union programme
The debates on policy matters and future orientation included substantial discussions, prior to negotiations scheduled for 2008, on the issue of the government’s plans to reform certain national pension schemes. Virtual consensus was reached regarding a proposal of ‘no more than 40 contribution years’, with the aim of returning to ‘37.5 contribution years for everyone’.
Nevertheless, given the government’s plans, the confederation warned that ‘without dialogue and acceptance’ tensions will emerge. Mr Mailly did not hide the fact that he does not understand ‘how the government can say: we want strong accountable trade unions, while at the same time bypassing them by organising a referendum’. CGT-FO will certainly be ready to argue strongly on behalf of its 800,000 members.
Benoît Robin, Institute for Economic and Social Research (IRES)