French Democratic Confederation of Labour

The French Democratic Confederation of Labour (French: Confédération française démocratique du travail, CFDT) is a national trade union center, one of the five major French confederations of trade unions, led since 2012 by Laurent Berger. It is the largest French trade union confederation by number of members (875,000) but comes only second after the Confédération générale du travail (CGT) in voting results for representative bodies.

CFDT
Full nameFrench Democratic Confederation of Labour
Native nameConfédération Française Démocratique du Travail
Founded1964
Members875,000
AffiliationITUC, ETUC, TUAC
Key peopleLaurent Berger, secretary general
Office locationParis, France
CountryFrance
Websitewww.cfdt.fr

History

The CFDT was created in 1964 when a majority of the members of the Christian trade union Confédération Française des Travailleurs Chrétiens (CFTC) decided they preferred to be part of a secular union. The minority kept the name CFTC.

At first, under the leadership of Eugène Descamps), the CFDT presented itself as a social-democratic confederation close to the Unified Socialist Party (Parti socialiste unifié or PSU) which was led by Pierre Mendès-France. It sometimes acted in concert with the CGT, which was dominated by the Communist Party. This alliance took a part in the May 68 upheaval. Then, the CFDT was auto-gestionary.

In 1974, many PSU and CFDT members joined the Socialist Party (Parti socialiste or PS) led by François Mitterrand. With Michel Rocard at their helm, they formed an internal opposition called "the second left". They abandoned the auto-gestionary project and advocated aligning themselves with the European social-democracy model. At the same time, under the leadership of Edmond Maire, the CFDT cut its ties with the CGT.

In the 1980s, after François Mitterrand's election and his choice to follow Socialist economic policies, the CFDT appeared to be a pro-governmental organization. During this time a lot of members and voters were lost. In the 1990s, under the leadership of Nicole Notat,[fr] the CFDT chose to distance its strategy from the PS. In this, it supported Alain Juppé's plan of Welfare State reform. It replaced Force ouvrière (FO) as the "main partner" of employers and right-wing governments, and the presidency of social security offices.

In 2003, the support of the new CFDT leader François Chérèque for pensions reform plans caused an internal crisis. Some CFDT members left the confederation and chose the CGT or the autonomous trade unions SUD. However, the CFDT participated with the other confederations to the 2006 conflict about the Contrat première embauche (CPE).

Professional elections

The CFDT won 21.81% of the vote in the employee's college during the 2008 professional elections, making it the second largest trade union in terms of votes in those elections. This result, however, is below the CFDT's 25.23% result in 2002 and its top result to date, 25.35% in 1997.

Affiliates

Current

The following federations are affiliated:

FederationAbbreviationFoundedMembership (2017)[1]
Chemistry and Energy FederationFCE199737,428
Communication, Consulting, Culture FederationF3C200543,666
Federation of Banks and InsuranceFBA1954
Federation of Health and Social ServicesSanté Sociaux193593,570
Federation of General Unions of National EducationSGEN193724,952
Federation of ServicesCFDT Services191381,094
Federation of Social Protection, Work and EmploymentPSTE
Federation of State Establishments and ArsenalsFEAE1962
Finance FederationCFDT Finances
General Agri-Food FederationFGA198037,428
General Federation of Mines and MetallurgyFGMM198456,142
General Federation of Transport and the EnvironmentFGTE197743,666
Interco FederationInterco197468,618
National Federation of Construction and Wood WorkersFNCB193424,952
Private Training and Education FederationFEP1938

Other affiliates are:

  • CFDT Executives (UCC CFDT)
  • Confederate Union of Retired Persons (UCR CFDT)
  • Union of Public Service and Similar Federations (UFFA)

Former
Union[2]LeftReason not affiliated
Equipment Federation1977Merged into FGTE
Federation of Chemicals and Glass1997Merged into FCE
Federation of Food, Hotel, Cafe and Restaurant Workers1980Merged into FGA
Federation of French Sailors and Fishermen1977Merged into FGTE
Federation of Judicial Professions
Federation of Labour Ministry Employees
Federation of Miners1984Merged into FGMM
Federation of Railway Workers1977Merged into FGTE
Federation of Social Security
Federation of Transport1977Merged into FGTE
Federation of the Textile, Clothing and Leather Industries2007Merged into CFDT Services
Federation of Unions of Post and Telecommunications2005Merged into F3C
French Federation of Unions of Commercial Travellers and Agents
French Federation of Police Unions
General Federation of Agriculture1980Merged into FGA
General Federation of Metallurgy1984Merged into FGMM
National Federation of Civil Aviation
National Federation of Personnel of the Electricity and Gas Industries1997Merged into FCE
National Federation of Unions of Communal Employees1974Merged into Interco
National Federation of Unions of Printing Trades, Paper and Cardboard Workers1971Merged into CFDT Services

Leadership

General Secretaries
1964: Eugène Descamps
1971: Edmond Maire
1988: Jean Kaspar
1992: Nicole Notat
2002: François Chérèque
2012: Laurent Berger

Presidents
1964: Georges Levard
1967: André Jeanson
1971: Laurent Lucas
1973: Post abolished

Notable members

References
  1. "La CFDT en bref". Institut Superieur du Travail. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  2. Directory of Labor Organizations, Europe. Washington DC: United States Bureau of International Labor Affairs. 1965. pp. 9.1–9.22. Retrieved 17 July 2020.
  • ICTUR; et al., eds. (2005). Trade Unions of the World (6th ed.). London, UK: John Harper Publishing. ISBN 0-9543811-5-7.
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