The General Confederation of Labour (CGT), one of France's main trade union confederations, held its 47th confederal congress in March 2003. Key issues discussed at the congress included the government's pension reform plans and CGT's links with the Communist Party, while major changes were made to the size and composition of the confederation's decision-making bodies.
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The General Confederation of Labour (CGT), one of France's main trade union confederations, held its 47th confederal congress in March 2003. Key issues discussed at the congress included the government's pension reform plans and CGT's links with the Communist Party, while major changes were made to the size and composition of the confederation's decision-making bodies.
The General Confederation of Labour (Confédération générale du travail, CGT), held its 47th confederal congress in Montpellier from 22 to 28 March 2003. Some four years after CGT joined the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) (FR9903167N) and at a time when the government is about to take important decisions on pensions (FR0302108F), the congress was an opportunity to consider the changes that have occurred in the organisation and take the measure of the authority of its general secretary, Bernard Thibaut. The congress marked the end of Mr Thibaut’s first term at the head of the CGT, following his election at the last congress in 1999 (FR9902154F).
The first two days of the congress were spent discussing CGT’s recent activity. The leadership came under fire on several occasions, mainly on three points; the actions of ETUC, whose performance several speakers felt was not up to the expectations of CGT’s affiliated unions; the CGT’s membership of the Inter-union Employee Savings Committee (Comité intersyndical de l'épargne salariale, CIES) set up in January 2002 to deal with new legislation on employee savings schemes, which will be subject to negotiations at company and sector level (FR0203103N); and pensions, which were the topic of a special debate on the third day. The general secretary’s report was adopted by delegates representing 74.65% of the membership, with 12.99% voting against and 12.36% abstaining. This was an unusual result for an organisation previously accustomed to a higher degree of consensus.
The special debate on pensions reform was one of the highlights of the congress, eliciting details on CGT’s position with regard to the consultation exercise now under way with the government. A motion on the issue was approved by a large majority, but only after heated debate.
Four resolutions originally submitted as amendments were debated and approved by the congress, relating to:
'Together for new social conquests' (Solidaires pour de nouvelles conquêtes sociales), with 75.76% for, 15.442% against and 8.82% abstaining;
'Renewing trade unionism; the next stages' (Renouveau du syndicalisme: franchir des seuils), with 73.49% for, 15.89% against and 10.63% abstaining;
'Adopting a charter of trade union practice and thinking more about change in CGT' (Adopter une charte de la vie syndicale et poursuivre les réflexions sur les transformations de la CGT), with 83.16% for, 8.17% against, 14.17% abstaining; and
'Setting up together the new system for sharing out union membership dues' (Construire ensemble le nouveau système de répartition des cotisations), with 51.48% for, 34.35% against and 14.17% abstaining. Given this narrow majority, the leadership decided to postpone taking a decision on this issue.
The historical relationship linking CGT to the Communist Party (Parti Communiste Français) was severed at the congress. According to the resolution on this subject, 'debate with democratic political parties cannot include either support or co-authorship of any political programme of any description'. Other questions, such as trade union unity, for example, remain open. Although CGT’s commitment to united trade union action was not openly challenged, several speakers saw suspicious signs of weakness, especially in relation to the French Democratic Confederation of Labour (Confédération française démocratique du travail, CFDT), accused by some of leading CGT into 'a slide into reformism'. Some tense moments were also generated by another important point, the balance between the respective weights of the private and public sectors within CGT's organisation. The leadership and a large number of delegates made a priority of the need to alter the respective weights of the two sectors (currently 40/60 private/public) and reanchor the organisation in the private sector. This concern left its mark both on the pensions debate and on CGT’s ruling bodies, many of whose members were replaced.
Two major changes were made to CGT's decision-making bodies. The first related to their size - the executive committee (the decision-making body) was reduced from 90 to 50 members and the confederal board (the organisation’s 'government') from 16 to 10 members. The second related to their make-up, with the adoption of two kinds of equal representation within the executive committee - an equal number of men and women and an equal number from the private and public sectors. This move sends out a strong symbolic signal that CGT will now have to turn into tangible achievements.
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