The 53rd Congress of the CGT, which must appoint a successor to Philippe Martínez at the helm, opened this Monday in the Clermont-Ferrand agglomeration in a stormy atmosphere, many delegates denouncing a “49.3” within the union. In the early afternoon, about twenty people burst into the hall of the Grande Halle d’Auvergne in Cournon-d’Auvergne, among them Olivier Mateu, secretary general of the Union départemental des Bouches-du-Rhone.
“We have a delegation of colleagues from the Paris region that some want to prevent from entering the congress. There are rules. We believe that the commission of mandates and votes did not respect the rules, that is why the delegates are here to ask the congress to decide,” Amar Lagha, secretary general of the Federation of Commerce and Services, explained to the press.
Sandy Penne, a member of the mandates and votes committee, deplored “the arrival of fellow trade federation members who did not have a mandate.” According to him, conflicts arose over the names of certain delegates between the Trade Federation and the Paris Departmental Union, but the issue was resolved democratically and the Federation, which went to court, was “dismissed”.
Tensions around a show of hands
Shortly after the start of the debates, a new upsurge in tension, when the composition of the Commission on Mandates and Votes was submitted for the approval of the delegates. Delegates stood on either side of the podium to demand a recount of the votes of the delegates who had voted by show of hands, chanting “49.3, we don’t want it!”.
“The platform that is part of the outgoing leadership does not take into account the votes of the congress at all, and it is seen that the congress voted en masse against the commission of mandates and votes,” the head of the Federation of chemistry, Emmanuel Lépine. “The commission is ready before the start of the congress, so we can suspect any intrigue that may happen behind the level of the votes, knowing that it is about electronic votes,” he added.
At the bottom of these strong tensions, the deep divisions within the CGT, with an unresolved succession battle between the candidate chosen by the incumbent, Philippe Martinez, and an unofficial candidate close to the federations disputing his line, Céline Verzeletti. Not to mention the candidacy considered not in accordance with the rules defined by the Confederal National Committee (CCN), Olivier Mateu.
Source: BFM TV
