French unions face shake-up
PLURALIST and traditionally characterized by a low membership level, the French trade union movement finds itself today weakened and near exhaustion. Its militancy, and the unity that it achieved notably between
1966 and 1978, gave it considerable fighting strength. However, since the end of united action between the two main confederations, the General Confederation of
Labour (CGT) and the
Democratic French
Confederation of Labour
(CFDT) 12 years ago, the organized union movement has lost half of its support.
Only some 5% of engineering workers are today union members, a return to the situation before the big struggles under the Popular
Front government in June
1936.
PIERRE REME
OMPLICITY with the governments since 1981 - with the
CGT serving the interests of the French Communist Party
(PCF), and the National Education Federation (FEN) and the CFDT lining up behind a faction of the Socialist Party
(PS) — has not helped matters. While
80% of workers express their belief that union organization is needed in the work-
11. "L'ecroulement de l'Europe de l'Est; du stalinisme au capitalisme", Hans-Jürgen Schulz, Quatrième Internationale, no. 37-38, August-October 1990.
12. "Pacifique; le recentrage asiatique", CEPII (M. Fouquin, E. Dourille-Feer, J. Oliveira-Martins), Economica,
13. Wirtschaftswoche, no. 43, October 19, 1990.
14. La Nouvelle Alternative, no. 19, September 1990.
places or to pursue class-wide demands, at the same time there is an enormous suspicion of the existing national union leaderships.
ost block-headed and narro e minded 1 9 nost block-headed and narrow minded
FRANCE bureaucracy to consider the problem of long-term survival. And the leaders of FEN and the CFDT have indeed come up with a project known as "union recomposition"
Obviously inspired by contemporary social democratic projects, they hope to gain from the decline of the PF, the low level of struggles and the loss of direction of many union militants to make a historic change in the nature of unionism, starting with an attempt to unite FEN and the CFDT.
In their view, it would be possible to find a broader area of agreement with the employers and the government, if the union movement could put itself forward as being "realistic and responsible from an economic point of view". They hope to act as go betweens for the "modernist" sectors of the multinationals and one or another Socialist or centrist minister.
If the "partners" (the employers) were to know that the unionists would approach issues in more or less the same frame of mind as theirs, rather than as militants searching for any opportunity to gain ground for their side, they would, it is argued, be more understanding. This, at least, is what those engaged in the "recomposition" project are hoping. Turning the page of the class struggle
Thus for the FEN and CFDT leaderships, it is time to turn the page on class-struggle unionism in France. The "good" elements must be brought together and the "bad" (Communist or other, who do not want to knuckle under) isolated. They do not recoil before the fact that this process means splits.
Thus, following the nurses and post and telecommunications' struggles in 1988, the CFDT leadership expelled local or regional union officials demands for democratic control by the
Certainly "wildcat strikes" continue to break out, stimulated by the rank-and-file CFDT and FEN leaders, organizations "able to negotiate" will win. They hope, furthermore, that a change in their financing structure will be compensation for loyal militants.
Everything that gets the unions away from voluntary dues payments seems to them good, since voluntary unionism also implies a demand for independence and involvement. On the other hand, a union that is more or less dependent for its financial resources on the employers and the government will appear simply as a specialized agency for conducting negoti-
The two leaderships are already dealing with a whole series of problems jointly. strike of the public finance officers, the International Viewpoint #208 • June 10, 1991
CFDT and FEN avoided the slightest gesture in the direction of spreading the movement in the rest ot the public sector. In Spring 1990 they signed a "re and re-grading" which was far from meeting the employees demands, but refused to consult their members. The Gulf war led them to state willingness to demands "if necessary". However, the recomposition operation faces a number
The FEN and CFDT leaderships were counting on the support of another union, the Force Ouvrière (FO), for their plans. However, the conference of FO in 1989 resulted in a victory for a team hostile to the idea. Furthermore the recomposition involved hardening out the intermediary cadre on an ideological basis of "putting an end to the Leninist and revolutionary detour". This however found little echo. The CFDT found itself reduced to initiating a debate on "adaptation of struc-
However, at the October 1990 meeting
National Confederal Council (CFC)*, the majority of speakers opposed the leadership on the decisive issue, that of a reduction in the role of the local coordinating bodies of the union's supporters in different branches to the benefit of the national leaderships.
At present, if the CFDT leadership forges ahead with the scheme concocted with the FEN, it will find itself in the minority. Despite the strenuous efforts of the leaderships since the 1970s, the confederation remains attached to a certain way of working and retains an interest in intervening in the problems of different categories and professional branches, in a way which is effective in building unions
The FEN leadership, meanwhile, is charged, in the tactical agreement signed between the two leaderships, with the job of "creating a new situation" by proposing the regroupment project to its forthcoming conference.
Teachers union debates recomposition
In the FEN itself, which functions on 1. People outside France tend to find the existence of five confederations and a separate teachers' federation hard to understand. The five are the General Confederation of Labour (CGT); Force Ouvrière (FO); the National Education Federation (FEN); the Democratic
Confederation of Labour (CFDT); and the French Confederation of Christian Workers (CFTC). There are also some autonomous unions, often of a left or left-centre orientation (see box). 2. The expulsions led to the creation of the SUD-PTT
Democracy) and the CRC-Santé 3. In a break with tradition in this sector, the strike of the finance officers lasted five months with wellattended and frequent mass meetings. A union united front was maintained throughout. The demands in the strike were often applicable to the whole of the public sector and the government refused to give way because of the danger of an example being set.
the basis of tendencies to which individuals adhere, the recomposition project was launched in January 1990 by the Unity, Independence and Democracy (UID) current, which is close to the PS, and enthusiastically taken up by the secretary of the National Institute of Teachers at its congress in June 1990. 5
Subsequently things became complicated. Rather than following the leadership into the trap, the Unity and Action (U & A) tendency, in which there are many PCF militants, made it clear that it wanted to maintain the unity of the FEN. The same position was taken by another curSchool"). Furthermore there were reservations from many of the officials in the oeuvres (parallel organizations) - some 50,000 are employed in various parts of the "social economy" — who fear that a break-up of the FEN would weaken their position. Nor do they see why the empire of the oeuvres should be offered to the CFDT leadership as a wedding gift. Accusations of undemocratic procedures
In the UID tendency itself, the leadership's project has been strongly criticized. A dissident UID list, "Autrement" (Otherwise), gave the green light for setting up a new tendency at the February 1991 congress of the Federation. Most of the promoters of this split off from the FEN's biggest tendency accuse the leadership of undemocratic procedures, and take up some of the ideological undercur-
For example, the FEN leadership has declared its support for organizing professional training of technical teachers under employers' control; the leaders and militants in this sector have broken with the leadership over this.
At the end of 1990 the school students movement showed those PS leaders who are supporting the CFDT-FEN operation the lie of the land. The unions led by Unity and Action, the National Union of Higher Education (SNES), supported the movement against the Socialist government's plans for education. It became clear that the recomposition project 4. The National Confederal Council (CNC), the CFDT's parliament, brings together representatives of the federations and regions. It meets three times a year. 5. UID leads many small national unions and above all the FEN's largest union, the SNI (teachers). Some 60% of the delegates at the last federal congress were Unity and Action (U & A) brings together many Socialist militants alongside a current close to the PCF. It leads six national unions and some 30 of the FEN's departmental sections. Finally the revolutionary syndicalist Ecole Emancipée makes up about 5% of the FEN. 6. These organizations ("Oeuvres") bring together bodies such as the Mutuelle générale de l'Education nationale (MGEN), a purchasing cooperative (MAIF) and a range of cultural activities (Fédération des oeuvres laiques, Jeunesses en plein air, and so on). 7. See International Viewpoint, no. 207, May 27, 1991.
The French trade union movement
THE General Confederation of Labour (CGT) was a united body from 1895 to 1919-1921. There were attempts at reunification in 1935, which lasted until
FRANCE therefore be a battle over the whole orientation of the CGT in the offing, and even a change in its attitude to struggles and relations to militants in other confederations. Such a development would also put
1939; then from 1943 to 1947. Force Ouvrière (FO) was born out of a split in the CGT in 1947/1948. French Communist Party officials have a big influence on the CGT, while most of FO's officials are Socialists. There is also within
FO a network influenced by the Lambertiste current of Trotskyism and a number of members and supporters of the right wing Gaullist Assembly for the
Republic (RPR).
* The French Confederation of Christian Workers (CFTC) was set up in
1919 to transmit the Vatican's social policies. It underwent changes under the pressure of struggles and in 1964 it became the Democratic French Confederation of Labour (CFDT), which expressed support for "democratic socialism" and subsequently "self-managed socialism". Formerly a direct action organization drawing on pre-1914 syndicalist traditions, it became, as a result of the three-decade long leadership of Eduard Maire, a transmission belt for the projects of leading Socialist Party politicians such as Michel Rocard and
Jacques Delors. This change was accompanied by increasing bureaucratiza-
* The present CFTC, which supports the "social morality of the Church".
derives from a minority that split away when the old CFTC became the CFDT
* The FEN originated at the time of the split in the CGT in 1947. A majority of unionized teachers wanted to remain in a united organization. Tendencies were organized in it, on the basis of political and union affinities. The CGT and FO agreed not to attempt to recruit among teachers.
* The periods of advance for unionism in France are 1918-1920, 1935-
1938, 1944-1947 and 1966-1978.
* In 1978, the CGT's 40th Congress adopted a firmly unitary resolution.
The PCF apparatus buried it, with the effective aid of the CFDT leader Eduard Maire, who believed that the CFDT needed a break in relations in order to pursue agreements with the bosses.
* Formal membership in French unions involves a higher degree of commitment than in many other countries. In 1989 memberships were: CGT,
520,000; CFDT, 330,000; and FO, 270,000. * offered no tool for changing the leadership of that union, and the FEN leaderseeking an accomodation with the SNES.
A short while before the congress, the
FEN leadership spread a rumour that, in place of a scheme for a forced march towards a highly centralized union, a looser arrangement was being considered, which would avoid a split between the unions led by U & A and the FEN. In the event, after much re-voting and manipulation on the leadership's part, the FEN
Conference still voted 53 to 47% against the reorganization -
"Autrement" and U & A voting en bloc against. In the next 18 months a special rules revision congress is scheduled, but the events at the February 1991 conference show that the leadership cannot predict the outcome.
However, the real future of French trade depends above all on two things: what happens in the CGT and the abilities of those unionists who support a united front approach, and who are trying
We may well be on the eve of decisive events in the CGT. The faction close to
Communist Party general secretary
Georges Marchais, who is trying to control the union, wants to get rid of the CGT's long time leader Henri Krasucki, who has become too independent. Things are not going well for the CGT at the moment. In 1990 it lost a further 10% of its members; 15 regional unions are to lose their full-time officials; federations are no longer paying for the use of the local offices and the Confederation is having a hard time meeting its immediate
Development of debate in largest union
Certainly the tendency is for many of the militants, who have lost faith in the line pursued for decades and its results, to become inactive. But at the same time the issues of pluralism, the respect of minority viewpoints in the CGT, a genuinely unitary tactic towards the other unions, the raising of strategic demands and the issue of Europe-1992 are all becoming live. The militants and officials raising these questions are from several political traditions: left Socialists, critical Communists® or even the far left. There may further obstacles in the way of the FEN/ CFDT merger.
For the past few months, the whole union movement has been in turmoil. Unionists from the CGT, the CFDT, the FEN and some independent unions have decided to meet and develop common conceptions and proposals. The unionists expelled from the CFDT in the PTT and the health sector are taking part. It is not easy to quantify the weight of this net-
These activists and officials say that they do not want "to be the core of a future united confederation" but "a material force that can push aside the existing
An initial national meeting on June 23, 1990 showed that there was sufficient agreement for further such meetings to take place. A collective has been set up to centralize information, support the holding of inter-union meetings at a local level, and prepare new national meetings and in particular a new meeting of a thousand unionists to take place on June 15, 1991.1°
The collective responded unanimously to the CFDT and FEN leaderships when, after the latter's February 1991 congress, they put forward their latest idea, that of an "Italian-style" cartel — the new jargon for the "recomposition" - saying that this project was not acceptable unless it included everyone. The collective also insisted that it must be carried through in a democratic way at every level rather than just being an agreement between the confederation bureaucracies.
It would be naive to imagine that the FEN and CFDT leaders have abandoned their project for refashioning the union movement in their own way. However the problems they have already encountered give opportunities to currents with a genuine unity project. The task today is to build joint actions of all who want to end the divisions in French trade unionism.
This requires first of all rebuilding the confidence of the workers in their organidemocratic development demands and in the conduct of actions. Such a process could build on the experience of the struggles organized by the strike committees, which have seen democratic methods in use such as regular reports to general 8. The state of the French Communist Party creates a new situation in the CGT. The PCF has seen a whole series of critical currents emerge, and these have in tum meant that forces have built up in the CT ready to criticize its subordination to the PCF leadership's interests. 9. From the Lettre de collectif no. 2, November 1990. 10. No. 12 of the Collectif publishes the texts to be discussed at the June 15 meeting The collective can 2 1 be contacted at BP. 74, 75960-Paris Cedex 20. June 10, 1991 • #208 International Viewpoint