The French Democratic Confederation of Labour (, CFDT) is a national trade union center, one of the five major French confederations of trade unions, led since 2023 by . It is the second largest French trade union confederation by number of members (625,000) and recently becoming first in voting results for representative bodies, having traditionally been second.

History The CFDT has its roots in Christian trade unionism of the French Confederation of Christian Workers (CFTC).

After the Liberation of France, a left-wing minority, grouped in the Reconstruction tendency, led an internal debate in favour of the “deconfessionalization” seeking to secularise the CFTC and achieve greater autonomy from political and religious circles with which the confederation's leadership had been associated. The Reconstruction movement also campaigned for left-wing, social democracy and democratic trade unionism without being Marxist, and against the European treaties deemed to restore a capitalist Europe, under the guise of Christian democracy.

This tendency took root in the mineworker and steelworker sections, in the wake of French Resistance and the , Gradually the movement grew in strength within the CFTC, becoming its dominant force in to 1960s under the leadership of .

The breakthrough came in 1964, when an extraordinary CFTC congress—held at the Palais des Sports in Paris on 6 and 7 November—voted to secularise the CFTC and rename it to the French Democratic Confederation of Labour (CFDT). A minority of approximately 10% opposed the change and instead followed into the immediately refounded "continuation French Confederation of Christian Workers".

At first, under the leadership of Eugène Descamps, the CFDT presented itself as a social-democratic confederation close to the Unified Socialist Party (Parti socialiste unifié or PSU) which was led by Pierre Mendès-France. It sometimes acted in concert with the Communist Party aligned General Confederation of Labour (CGT). This alliance took a part in the May 68 upheaval. Then, the CFDT was auto-gestionary.

In 1974, many PSU and CFDT members joined the Socialist Party (Parti socialiste or PS) led by François Mitterrand. With Michel Rocard at their helm, they formed an internal opposition called "the second left". They abandoned the auto-gestionary project and advocated aligning themselves with the European social-democracy model. At the same time, under the leadership of Edmond Maire, the CFDT cut its ties with the CGT.

In the 1980s, after François Mitterrand's election and his choice to follow social democratic economic policies, the CFDT appeared to be a pro-governmental organization. During this time a lot of members and voters were lost. In the 1990s, under the leadership of Nicole Notat, the CFDT chose to distance its strategy from the PS. In this, it supported Alain Juppé's plan of Welfare State reform. It replaced Force ouvrière (FO) as the "main partner" of employers and right-wing governments, and the presidency of social security offices.

In 2003, the support of the new CFDT leader François Chérèque for pensions reform plans caused an internal crisis. Some CFDT members left the confederation and chose the CGT or the autonomous trade unions SUD. However, the CFDT participated with the other confederations to the 2006 conflict about the Contrat première embauche (CPE).

Professional elections The CFDT won 21.81% of the vote in the employee's college during the 2008 professional elections, making it the second largest trade union in terms of votes in those elections. This result, however, is below the CFDT's 25.23% result in 2002 and its top result to date, 25.35% in 1997.

Affiliates Current The following federations are affiliated:

Federation Abbreviation Founded Membership (2017) Chemistry and Energy Federation FCE 1997 37,428 Communication, Consulting, Culture Federation F3C 2005 43,666 Federation of Banks and Insurance FBA 1954 Federation of Health and Social Services Santé Sociaux 1935 93,570 Federation of General Unions of National Education SGEN 1937 24,952 Federation of Services CFDT Services 1913 81,094 Federation of Social Protection, Work and Employment PSTE Federation of State Establishments and Arsenals FEAE 1962 Finance Federation CFDT Finances General Agri-Food Federation FGA 1980 37,428 General Federation of Mines and Metallurgy FGMM 1984 56,142 General Federation of Transport and the Environment FGTE 1977 43,666 Interco Federation Interco 1974 68,618 National Federation of Construction and Wood Workers FNCB 1934 24,952 Private Training and Education Federation FEP 1938

Other affiliates are: CFDT Executives (UCC CFDT) Confederate Union of Retired Persons (UCR CFDT) Union of Public Service and Similar Federations (UFFA)

Former Union Left Reason not affiliated Equipment Federation 1977 Merged into FGTE Federation of Chemicals and Glass 1997 Merged into FCE Federation of Food, Hotel, Cafe and Restaurant Workers 1980 Merged into FGA Federation of French Sailors and Fishermen 1977 Merged into FGTE Federation of Judicial Professions Federation of Labour Ministry Employees Federation of Miners 1984 Merged into FGMM Federation of Railway Workers 1977 Merged into FGTE Federation of Social Security Federation of Transport 1977 Merged into FGTE Federation of the Textile, Clothing and Leather Industries 2007 Merged into CFDT Services Federation of Unions of Post and Telecommunications 2005 Merged into F3C French Federation of Unions of Commercial Travellers and Agents French Federation of Police Unions General Federation of Agriculture 1980 Merged into FGA General Federation of Metallurgy 1984 Merged into FGMM National Federation of Civil Aviation National Federation of Personnel of the Electricity and Gas Industries 1997 Merged into FCE National Federation of Unions of Communal Employees 1974 Merged into Interco National Federation of Unions of Printing Trades, Paper and Cardboard Workers 1971 Merged into CFDT Services

Leadership General Secretaries 1964: Eugène Descamps 1971: Edmond Maire 1988: Jean Kaspar 1992: Nicole Notat 2002: François Chérèque 2012: Laurent Berger 2023:

Presidents 1964: Georges Levard 1967: André Jeanson 1971: Laurent Lucas 1973: Post abolished

Notable members Edmond Maire François Chérèque Nicole Notat Pierre Rosanvallon

References