Huge coup de theater at the CGT. Marie Buisson, the runner-up to Philippe Martinez was swept away in the final straight, by two votes The smoke came out after an almost sleepless night (the second) full of reversals, rants, negotiations and nerves put to the test the event around 8:30 a.m. While the name of Céline Verzeletti, supported by the big federations, had also circulated, it was a third woman who was elected to head the central at the 53rd congress in Clermont- Ferrand. To everyone’s surprise. This is Sophie Binet, 41, secretary general of Ugict (executives, engineers and technicians) in charge of gender equality and former principal education adviser in a vocational high school, who was not not in the arrival ticket.
In the political movement of the former secretary general Bernard Thibaut, moreover present several days in Clermont-Ferrand, she ticks all the boxes a priori: she knows the house, the ground, the files, the negotiations including in inter-union . “It’s the new agile generation who masters the struggle, conflicts and communication tools as well”, sums up a former union official.
His name rustled Thursday at the beginning of the afternoon while the candidacy of Marie Buisson divided and that of Céline Verzeletti (deemed too radical) failed to break through. Phones rang on the sidelines of closed-door meetings. “The future of the CGT was at stake. We had to find the solution,” says a heavyweight. A track blown to the ears of some.
First woman at the head of the plant
All night, the negotiations lasted, before this Friday morning, the proposal of the confederal executive commission of a new office (the executive of the CGT) unifying with Sophie Binet secretary general, surrounded by Laurent Brun of the federation of railway workers as administrator – a heavyweight of the CGT openly committed to the PC but also of Sébastien Menesplier (Federation mine energy) and Céline Verzeletti (the other rejected candidate). This is a mark of commitment by the federations to put the CGT back in working order. Then come Mireille Stivala (from the health federation), Catherine Giraud, Nathalie Bazire, Boris Plazzi, Gérard Ré and Thomas Vacheron. In short, an office acceptable to the greatest number. And an acceptable landing. The results closed the suspense: 64 for 39 against and 11 abstentions.
Gathering a scattered CGT like a puzzle in the midst of a pension crisis… This is the task that now awaits Sophie Binet, the first woman at the head of the central. Unheard of since 1895! Bernard Thibault had dreamed of it when he took over in 2012. Failed attempt. Ten years later, Philippe Martinez, the outgoing did it! But despite (and against) him, things had started so badly (and turned Berezina) for the camp of the outgoing secretary general during this 53rd congress which since Monday has brought together 1,000 delegates in Clermont-Ferrand. The new figure of the second union in France is not the one Martinez had designated as his runner-up.
The wow effect of this feminization could quickly fade into the background because the boiling cauldron of the Montreuil power plant exploded live. The CGT is today divided. The election was made in pain for lack of a candidacy which was essential from the beginning. The results of almost all the votes cast throughout the congress are glaring proof of this. From the rules of procedure of the congress to the activity report of the last four Martinez years to the previous lists of names retained for the designation of new leading members of parliament (CCN), of the government (confederal executive committee) of the office: None have obtained a clear result which exceeds 50% whereas according to usage, the votes fluctuate between 70% and 95%. Series of snubs for the outgoing management and its runner-up Marie Buisson.
Labors of Hercules await
With one exception: the vote on the orientation document which defines the line of the CGT for the next three years, approved with 72.79% of the votes but only after the Martinez-Buisson camp agreed to integrate certain diluting amendments very irritating points. Like the one on the “unification of trade unionism” which has been modified: the names of the FSU and Solidaires unions, with which the CGT has undertaken a rapprochement, no longer appear. Or the passage relating to the agreement, never discussed internally and negotiated on the sly at the end of 2021 by Marie Buisson and Elsa Conseil with environmental NGOs (Greenpeace and Oxfam in particular), whose name “Never again” has disappeared. Works of Hercules therefore await the new secretary general and her team who inherit a divided CGT, a real Spanish inn crossed by headwinds, which will have to be put back in working order as soon as possible.
The pension movement does not wait. As of next week, it will have to debate and concert on the strategy to adopt vis-à-vis the executive and the inter-union. As for Wednesday’s meeting with the Prime Minister… Ira, ira pas? The question does not arise. This Friday, at the podium of the congress, Sophie Binet confirmed that the CGT would go there. According to our information, it should present a dozen counter-proposals for financing, obviously taking the course of outright withdrawal of the pension reform. As for the idea of a “mediation” carried by Martinez, Sophie Binet put it directly in the basket in accordance with a “call” voted Thursday evening at the congress.