Its existence ultimately lasted less than a year. This Friday, December 1, the eight union organizations are meeting at the CFDT headquarters to mark the end of an inter-union movement in decline. The latter was created in the wake of the fight against pension reform at the beginning of the year. The government’s desire to raise the legal age of departure to 64 years had enabled a consensus among reformist and radical organizations who were all opposed to it. This unprecedented union led to a massive mobilization of French people in the streets for many months. However, this proved insufficient to bring the government to its knees.
Announced on numerous occasions, the end of the inter-union movement had been regularly denied by its members in recent months. However, the transition from a united struggle against a project – the 64 years – to a struggle for projects was more complicated than expected. Despite some inconclusive joint initiatives, such as the day of October 13 on wages, which mobilized very little, the inter-union already seemed to be ancient history.
It is now official, according to information from AFP and Le Monde, who interviewed several union leaders. “Nothing justifies today that the inter-union continues,” recognizes François Hommeril, president of the CFE-CGC, very directly. “The inter-union is a powerful tool but when there are no common demands, the tool has no use,” says Frédéric Souillot, general secretary of Force Ouvrière (FO). A sign of the old fractures still present, the “moderate” unions are clearly more favorable to the idea of turning the page than their “radical” counterparts. “We cannot afford the luxury of a union division, in the face of a government and employers who are intransigent towards the world of work,” warns Sophie Binet, the leader of the CGT.
The end seemed inevitable anyway. The relationship between the unions and particularly towards the CGT became increasingly tense. In question, certain solitary initiatives of the Montreuil headquarters and its number one which had particularly annoyed the other organizations. During the demonstration on salaries, the latter had alone organized a press point at the head of the procession, while the members of the inter-union had arrived a few hours earlier to do so at FO headquarters. “On October 13, it was a complete mess,” laments a union leader. “She doesn’t know what the inter-union is,” but she is keen on this union, “with its FSU and Solidaires auxiliaries,” jokes this official. Atmosphere…
However, no one excludes the rebirth of the inter-union in the future. “When we can work together”, we do it, “because there is strength in unity”, points out Cyril Chabanier, president of the CFTC. “We have always said that the inter-union as it existed during retirements was useful and important”, but “we are in a different moment today”, concludes Marylise Léon, boss of the CFDT.
