| Confédération Générale du Travail | |
| Location Country: | France |
| Affiliation: | ITUC, ETUC |
| Members: | 640,000[1] |
| Leader Title: | General Secretary |
| Leader Name: | Sophie Binet (since 2023) |
| Full Name: | General Confederation of Labour |
| Upright: | 0.7 |
| Founded: | September 1895 |
| Headquarters: | Montreuil, France |
| Website: | www.cgt.fr |
The General Confederation of Labour (fr|'''Confédération Générale du Travail'''|link=no, CGT) is a national trade union center, founded in 1895 in the city of Limoges. It is the first of the five major French confederations of trade unions.
It is the largest in terms of votes (32.1% at the 2002 professional election, 34.0% in the 2008 election), and second largest in terms of membership numbers.
Its membership decreased to 650,000 members in 1995–96 (it had more than doubled when François Mitterrand was elected president in 1981), before increasing today to between 700,000 and 720,000 members, slightly fewer than the Confédération Française Démocratique du Travail (CFDT).[2]
According to the historian M. Dreyfus, the direction of the CGT is slowly evolving, since the 1990s, during which it cut all organic links with the French Communist Party (PCF), in favour of a more moderate stance. The CGT is concentrating its attention, in particular since the 1995 general strikes, to trade-unionism in the private sector.
The CGT was founded in 1895 in Limoges from the merger of the Fédération des bourses du travail (Federation of Labour Councils) and the Fédération nationale des syndicats (National Federation of Trade Unions). Auguste Keufer was amongst the founders and became the first treasurer.[3]
At the end of Henri Krasucki's term (1982–1992), he began to distance himself from the French Communist Party (PCF).[4] His successor, Louis Viannet, did the same, going as far as resigning from the political bureau of the party.[4]
CGT Secretary General Phillipe Martinez announced that the union will support the week of climate action beginning on September 20, 2019.[5]
In 1937 CGT began organizing workers in French West Africa. The union's functioning was interrupted by its banning by the Vichy regime, but in 1943-1948 a process of reconstruction took place. The main centers of activity were Senegal, Ivory Coast, Togo and the French Soudan. CGT had an upper hand in the Muslim regions in comparison to its main rival CFTC, who depended on the presence of Catholic communities for its recruitment. CGT emerged as the major trade union force amongst the 100 000 strong organized labour force in Senegal and Mauritania after the Second World War.[6]
Within the CGT branches in the region, there was however a growing wish for independence. A leader of CGT in French West Africa, Bassirou Guèye, promoted this idea. At a meeting of the Territorial Union of Trade Unions in Senegal and Mauritania, held in Dakar November 11–November 12, 1955, the majority of delegates voted for separation from the French CGT. A conference was held in Saint-Louis on January 14–January 15, 1956 which formed the Confédération générale des travailleurs africains (CGTA), separating the parts of the West African CGT organizations from the French CGT. At the conference 50 out of 67 delegates had voted for separation.[7]
In Togo, CGT had 45,100 members in 1948 (65% of organized labour). By 1952 the number had decreased to 34,000 (46% of organized labour).[8]
CGT formed a branch in Madagascar in 1936.[9]
| Affiliate | Abbreviation | Founded | Membership (2019)[10] | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Banking and Insurance Staff Unions Federation | FSBPA | |||
| 1973 | 44,980 | |||
| FERC | 1948 | 25,258 | ||
| FAPT | 1919 | 49,346 | ||
| Federation of Design Studios | FSE | 1980 | ||
| FILPAC | 1982 | |||
| Finances | 1930 | |||
| General Federation of National Police Trade Unions | 1946 | |||
| Santé | 1979 | 74,725 | ||
| Merchant Marine Officers' Federation | FOMM | |||
| FTM | 1909 | 62,131 | ||
| FNAF | 1981 | 22,701 | ||
| FNIC | 1907 | 24,814 | ||
| National Federation of Construction, Wood and Furniture Employees | FNSCBA | 2011 | ||
| FNSAC | 1902 | |||
| FNEE | 1973 | |||
| National Federation of Glass and Ceramic Workers | ||||
| FNSM | 1905 | |||
| FNME | 1999 | 58,064 | ||
| 1901 | ||||
| National Federation of Staff of Social Organisations | Orgasociaux | |||
| FNTE | 1922 | |||
| National Union of Journalists | SNJ | 1918 | ||
| 1903 | 80,717 | |||
| Cheminots | 1917 | 42,640 | ||
| Temporary Staff Union | USI | 1968 | ||
| THCB | 1985 | |||
| FNST | 1902 | 36,432 |
| Affiliate | Abbreviation | Founded | Reason not affiliated | Year | Membership (1937)[11] | Membership (1946) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Air, War and Navy Federation | 16,000 | 15,000 | ||||
| Bridge and Road Engineers' Federation | ||||||
| 1892 | Merged into THCB | 1985 | 110,000 | 74,000 | ||
| Commercial Travellers' Federation | 6,000 | 20,000 | ||||
| Coopers' Federation | 18,000 | 18,000 | ||||
| Designers' and Technicians' Federation | Dissolved | 1945 | 79,000 | N/A | ||
| FEC | 1893 | Joined FO | 1947 | 285,000 | 200,000 | |
| Federation of Workers in the Wood, Furniture and Allied Industries | Merged into FNSCBA | 2011 | ||||
| FFTL | 1881 | Merged into FILPAC | 1982 | 60,000 | 55,000 | |
| General Administration Federation | 23,000 | ? | ||||
| Glass Federation | 30,000 | 23,000 | ||||
| Hairdressers' Federation | 22,000 | 20,000 | ||||
| Hatters' Federation | 10,000 | 10,000 | ||||
| Jewellers', Goldsmiths' and Watchmakers' Federation | 12,000 | 8,000 | ||||
| National Education Federation | Became independent | 1947 | 101,000 | 150,000 | ||
| FNTA | 1920 | Merged into FNAF | 1981 | 156,000 | 290,000 | |
| National Federation of Ceramic, Faience, Pottery and Kindred Industries | 36,000 | 20,000 | ||||
| FNTC | 1920 | Merged into FNSCBA | 2011 | 540,000 | 700,000 | |
| FNE | 1905 | Merged into FNME | 1999 | 80,000 | 105,000 | |
| National Federation of Food, Hotels, Cafes and Restaurants | Merged into FNAF | 1981 | 300,000 | 300,000 | ||
| 1893 | Merged into THCB | 1985 | 88,000 | 86,000 | ||
| FNTSS | 1883 | Merged into FNME | 1999 | 270,000 | 287,000 | |
| National Federation of Paper and Cardboard | Merged into FILPAC | 1982 | 72,000 | 40,000 | ||
| 1891 | Merged into THCB | 1985 | 360,000 | 270,000 | ||
| Pharmaceutical Federation | 47,000 | 19,000 | ||||
| Tobacco and Matchworkers' Federation | 1948 | Merged into FNAF | 2008 | 14,000 | 12,000 | |
| Wood Federation |
| Year | Secretary | |
|---|---|---|
| 1895 | ||
| 1898 | Maurice Copigneaux | |
| 1900 | ||
| 1901 | ||
| 1901 | Victor Griffuelhes | |
| 1909 | ||
| 1909 | Léon Jouhaux | |
| 1945 | Benoît Frachon and Léon Jouhaux | |
| 1948 | Benoît Frachon and Alain Le Léap | |
| 1957 | Benoît Frachon | |
| 1967 | Georges Séguy | |
| 1982 | Henri Krasucki | |
| 1992 | Louis Viannet | |
| 1999 | Bernard Thibault | |
| 2013 | ||
| 2015 | Philippe Martinez | |
| 2023 | Sophie Binet |