At the close of its executive committee meeting held on February 3 and 4 the CGT now has a new confederation bureau and at its head, replacing Thierry Lepaon, will be Philippe Martinez, the former secretary general of the metals federation the FTM-CGT. Mr. Martinez not only has to succeed in making T. Lepaon’s lifestyle issues yesterday’s news but he must also be up to the several tasks requiring his immediate attention. In an interview with Planet Labor, Jean-Marie Pernot, researcher with the IRES, outlines the problems weighing down France’s largest union organization.
What does the Lepaon* issue tell us about the state of the CGT?
Jean-Marie Pernot. This crisis did not come out of nowhere. It sits alongside several aborted attempts to renew the organization. We can start with the Viannet* period where the truth is told about CGT membership numbers, autonomy vis-à-vis the Communist Party is achieved, and a paradigm where unions work together is advocated. Bernard Thibault inherited a complex structure and continued the CGT’s secession from the Communist Party. Getting unions to work together was more difficult to achieve, and in 2003 there was a break with the CFDT ***.
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