Posted Nov 14, 2022, 6:00 a.m.Updated Nov 14, 2022, 10:37 a.m.
Will Marie Buisson succeed Philippe Martinez at the head of the CGT, at the end of the 53rd congress of the central, which is to take place from March 27 to 31 in Clermont-Ferrand? Hard to say today.
Almost six months ago, the secretary general of the second French central had created the surprise by announcing that he would not represent himself. He had validated, in the process, the candidacy of the secretary general of the Federation of Education, Research and Culture to its executive committee, its extended management composed of around fifty members.
In the shadow of Martinez
Until now, during successions, the National Confederal Committee (CCN) of the central, a form of “parliament” made up of the number ones of the federations and departmental unions, was also called upon to decide upstream of confirmation at the congress. But the question is not on the agenda of the CCN which will take place on Tuesday and Wednesday. And no assurance has been given for the appointment at the end of January, a late appointment anyway, while the congress takes place in barely a month and a half useful, taking into account the school holidays.
This subject would not be one if the candidacy of Marie Buisson achieved consensus. But this is not the case. The teacher, very close to Philippe Martinez’s chief of staff, Elsa Conseil, and the outgoing number 2 of the CGT, Catherine Perret, to whom she succeeded at the FERC, has circulated well in the territories but she remains in the shadow of Philippe Martinez. She hasn’t used the past few months to make a name for herself in the organization. Last example, Monday, November 7, during the meeting held in person at the confederation with the federations to discuss the follow-up to be given to the mobilization triggered by the conflict at Total. According to several participants, the teacher focused on the movement of professional high schools, without giving her point of view on whether or not to continue calls for days of action or even the articulation with the pension file.
An opening to industry
In preparation for the congress, the CCN will examine, on Tuesday, the list of candidates for the next executive commission dubbed by the outgoing EC, which will bear the paw of Marie Buisson. The future body, of 60 members, will be full of number ones, for the first time in a long time: around fifteen federations and around ten departmental unions.
The teacher is trying to open up to industry. Many of his organizations accuse him of having been the linchpin of the “Never again” manifesto signed with Greenpeace and castigating polluting industries and nuclear power. Sébastien Menesplier, from Energy, Frédéric Sanchez, from Metallurgy and railway worker Laurent Brun would join the executive committee; alongside in particular Mireille Stivala, of Health, systematically barred by Philippe Martinez until then.
Trade number one, Amar Lagha, is also there. But none of the leading figures of the Ultras, members of the World Federation of Trade Unions formerly of communist allegiance that the confederation left in 1999, whether it is the Marseilles Olivier Mateu, like the Val-de-Marnais Benjamin Amar and Cedric Quintin. Even Emmanuel Lépine, of the Chemistry Federation, despite his halo of his role, on the front line, in the TotalEnergies conflict was not retained. An absence that should focus the critics.
Too early for predictions
If it is not officially on the agenda, the question of the succession of Philippe Martinez should also be invited into the debate. Olivier Mateu denies to “Echos” intending to present himself. The names of Céline Verzeletti, co-leader of the Federation of State Civil Servants and member of the outgoing Confederal Bureau, and Sébastien Menesplier are also circulating. But if Marie Buisson’s situation is clearly fragile, it is too early to say that other candidates will emerge. And for good reason: in the central, anyone who would show such inclinations would be immediately taxed as a divider. The lesson of Bernard Thibault’s succession has been learned. On the other hand, what should be put on the table on Tuesday is the question of the methods of appointment of the secretary general, with a haro on the “fait du prince”.
Mandated by his organisation, Sébastien Menesplier announced in his federation’s newspaper that he “will indicate [t] to the next CCN that the candidacy of Marie Buisson cannot be the only possibility. It is necessary to listen to the other proposals made by the departmental unions and the federations”. This analysis seems to be widely shared among them. This CCN will be an opportunity to measure the position of the departmental unions, which are often more legitimist. Some are talking about the possibility of a meeting of the CCN by the end of the year to discuss the terms of the succession.
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