A few days ago, Sophie Binet, 41, did not really imagine that her time had come. Taking the direction of the CGT on the fly, in the midst of the unleashing of headwinds within the Montreuil power station, is a path strewn with pitfalls. Obviously, necessity is law.
And this Friday, March 31, at the rostrum of the 53rd congress, the secretary general from the union of engineers, executives and technicians (Ugict) – ties apparently incompatible with the image of the N ° 1 of the CGT – has quickly put on the habit.
Behind the scenes, influential personalities who know the house perfectly, and particularly worried about the open crisis scenario being written at this congress, pushed for his candidacy. The only one who could muster “enough at this heartbreaking moment. Whether Marie Buisson or Céline Verzeletti, one or the other would have been narrowly elected. Spend his time solving the problems of a CGT in pieces, deeply divided, it was the shipwreck guaranteed! confides this former manager.
The first woman to head the union
She is therefore the first woman at the head of this organization. A will of the outgoing Secretary General. Of which act! But Sophie Binet has enough to unanimously silence the incompetence lawsuits brought against one of the other candidates. Hardworking, experienced in the exercise of negotiations and struggle, she also has a good knowledge of the organization and its failings. When it comes to defending a cause, she never lets up.
Very committed to equality at work between women and men, she also castigated the words of the executive affirming that the current pension reform will benefit women. She leads the CGT Women’s Mix Committee and is the interlocutor of feminist movements.
Since the succession of Thierry Lepaon, forced to resign following a scandal, the current has always been electric between Sophie Binet and Philippe Martinez. “He spent his time putting a spoke in his wheels,” says a relative.
Her first left-wing militant struggles began with the JOC (Christian Workers’ Youth), then at the Unef (a member without ever having had any responsibilities) in the fight against the CPE (2006) at the university in Nantes in particular, where she graduated with a degree in philosophy before becoming a senior education adviser in vocational high schools.
“This is not good news for the government”
She was a supporter of the Socialist Party for a time, in the wake of Martine Aubry and Benoît Hamon. “His only cactus on his CV”, points out a federation official.
In 2016, with her CGT union cap, she entered the battle against the Labor Law and launched a petition #LoiTravailNonMerci. To carry out the fights, it relies both on traditional means of struggle (strikes, demonstrations, etc.) and on social networks. She also does not hesitate to increase contacts with militant collectives, other unions and even beyond.
She also has a column in the newspaper l’Humanité and is godmother to the friends of l’Huma. “This is not good news for the government”, cowardly, caustic, one of his faithful. “She knows all her files inside out. Especially pensions. And nothing escapes him…”, warns this relative.