The delegates present at the 53rd Congress of the CGT rejected on Tuesday the activity report of the outgoing leadership, a major setback that revives more than ever the uncertainty about the name of the general secretary who will succeed Philippe Martínez.
Union representatives voted 50.32% against the report. During the debates, the management had been the object of multiple criticisms regarding its orientations as well as the absence of internal democracy in the CGT.
Several speakers denounced in particular Philippe Martinez’s approval of the idea of ”mediation” in the pension file, presented Tuesday morning by his CFDT counterpart, Laurent Berger.
According to Jean-Marie Pernot, a political scientist specializing in unions, there are no precedents in the modern history of the CGT.
“It is a lack of knowledge of everything done by the outgoing management,” Céline Verzeletti, co-general secretary of the UFSE (Federal Union of State Unions) reacted to the press.
This ballot is a “mandate vote”, which means that the vote of each delegate has been “well debated” within the unions, “it is not a humorous vote (…) so it is not a small signal sent to outgoing management,” he stressed.
Céline Verzeletti said that she was “available” to take the lead of the CGT in a break line, facing the candidate appointed by the outgoing leadership, Marie Buisson.
Source: BFM TV
