Nicole Notat announces departure as CFDT leader and prepares succession

Download article in original language : FR0110104NFR.DOC

In September 2001, Nicole Notat announced officially that she will not be running again for the position of general secretary of France's CFDT trade union confederation at its next congress in May 2002. François Chérèque is to succeed her.

In September 2001, Nicole Notat made the surprise announcement that she intends to step down as general secretary of the French Democratic Confederation of Labour (Confédération française démocratique du travail, CFDT) at CFDT's next congress in Nantes in May 2002. The announcement followed several leaks to the press indicating that Ms Notat was to give up her current duties in response to Emilio Gabaglio's request that she succeed him as general secretary of the European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) at the next ETUC congress in 2003.

Ms Notat, a teacher, was born in 1947, and began her union career while teaching in Lorraine, before being elected to CFDT's national executive bodies. Becoming general secretary of CFDT in 1992, after the resignation of Jean Kaspar, she progressively strengthened her position within the union, gradually marginalising the opponents of her strategy (FR9902154F).

Seeking as far as possible to separate the issue of finding a new leader for CFDT when she hands over from the speculation about her future, either with ETUC or elsewhere, Ms Notat has denied any connection between her imminent departure and the question of who will take over from Mr Gabaglio.

The CFDT national executive committee was formally informed of Ms Notat's intentions on 18 September 2001. Although officially her departure had neither been sought nor expected, her decision, according to observers, had been anticipated in the higher echelons of CFDT for some time. François Chérèque, the present general secretary of CFDT's national health and social services federation, has been put forward almost unanimously as Ms Notat's successor by the national executive committee. Mr Chérèque, who is 45, is the son of Jacques Chérèque, deputy leader of CFDT from 1979 to 1984 before going on to hold administrative (Préfet de la République) and political posts (junior minister in the Michel Rocard administration from 1988 to 1991). The younger Mr Chérèque has been the general secretary of the national health and social services federation (CFDT's largest in in terms of membership) since 1996.

Although CFDT's overall direction should change little, a new generation of activists is set to accompany François Chérèque to leadership positions within the union. Indeed, in addition to that of Ms Notat, the departure of other leaders at the Nantes conference has also been hinted at.

The news of Ms Notat's departure has begun the various leadership races to take place in the trade unions and employers' associations over the next two or three years. Ernest-Antoine Seillières announced a long time ago that he would not be seeking re-election to the leadership of the Movement of French Enterprises (Mouvement des entreprises de France, MEDEF) employers' confederation at the end of 2002. Marc Blondel is in his final term (to end in 2003) as general secretary of the General Confederation of Labour-Force ouvrière (Confédération générale du travail-Force ouvrière, CGT-FO). The president of the French Christian Workers' Confederation (Confédération française des travailleurs chrétiens, CFTC), Alain Deleu, is also finishing his last term. Lastly, Jean-Luc Cazettes is to stand down from the presidency of the French Confederation of Professional and Managerial Staff-General Confederation of Professional and Managerial Staff (Confédération française de l'encadrement-Confédération générale des cadres, CFE-CGC) at the end of his present term.