The ax is (momentarily?) buried. It seems like a long time ago that Laurent Berger vehemently denounced the intrusions into the CFDT headquarters by CGT protesters during the previous pension reform attempt.
Place now in the union, symbolized this afternoon by the interview given jointly to BFMTV by the two union leaders. Mobilize the troops and speak with one voice, this is the message that Laurent Berger and Philippe Martinez wanted to convey this afternoon.
“We are two trade unionists who are very concerned about the situation of the workers, humanly it is going well, I prefer to be a friend of Philippe Martinez than of many others”, he continues.
Between the reformist CFDT and the confrontational CGT, relations have often been stormy throughout their century-long history. And if the two main French unions have ever formed a common front, as in 1966 with a unity of action pact, their respective leaders have always been careful not to appear together on a television set, even when they united in 2006. against the first employment contract or in 2010 against the pension reform of Nicolas Sarkozy.
“We talk to each other as much as necessary”
The current reform has healed the relationship until then more than distant between the two leaders.
Aware that their militant bases continue to be marked by past oppositions, the two trade unionists have little to say about their personal relationship.
10,000 new memberships
In addition to the opposition to the reform, the two leaders want to make this mobilization a great “pro-union” platform. The rate of unionism in France is in fact one of the lowest within the OECD. It fell from 11% to 10.3% between 2013 and 2019 and even fell below 8% in the private sector. It exceeds 16% in Germany and even 32% in Italy.
While the majority of the French oppose the reform and want the country to be blocked on March 7, Laurent Berger and Philippe Martinez want to restore the image of the unions by playing “all united against the government”.
Both are proud of the growth in their number of affiliates: 10,000 for the CFDT since the beginning of the movement. “10,200 in the CGT of January”, specifies Philippe Martinez. United but still a bit of a rival anyway.
Source: BFM TV
