Confédération générale du travail

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**CGT**<tr><td colspan="2" style="text-align: center;">Image:La CGT logo.png</td></tr><tr><td colspan="2" style="text-align: center;">General Confederation of Labour</td></tr><tr><td colspan="2" style="text-align: center;">*Confédération générale du travail*</td></tr><tr><th>**Founded**</th><td>September, 1895</td></tr><tr><th>**Members**</th><td>710,000</td></tr><tr><th>**Country**</th><td>France</td></tr><tr><th>**Affiliation**</th><td>ETUC</td></tr><tr><th>**Key people**</th><td>Bernard Thibault, secretary general</td></tr><tr><th>**Office location**</th><td>Montreuil, France</td></tr><tr><th>**Website**</th><td>www.cgt.fr</td></tr>

Image:Manif Paris 2005-11-19 dsc06289.jpg The General Confederation of Labour (Confédération générale du travail or CGT) is one of the five major French confederations of trade unions. It is the first in votes (32.1% at the 2002 professional election), and the second in number of members.

It was founded in 1895 and up until 1921 was dominated by anarcho-syndicalists. During this period, the CGT is violently opposed to public powers and employers. Besides, it refused to become affiliated to a political party. In 1906, the Charte d'Amiens proclaimed the trade union independence. Moreover, under the leadership of Léon Jouhaux, the confederation joined the "sacred union" during the World War I. This choice caused a first division. While Jouhaux tried to associate the CGT with the public powers, his opponents criticized an ambient nationalism. They received the October Revolution with hope.

Following the Revolution in Russia the French labour and socialist movement became increasingly divided between "revolutionaries" who supported the Bolsheviks and strong action at home and "reformists" who favoured moderation and re-affiliation to the pre-war Second International. One outcome of this division was the expulsion of the "revolutionaries". In 1921, they created a rival federation, the United General Confederation of Labour (Confédération générale du travail - unitaire or CGTU). In this one, communists cohabited with anarchists, revolutionary trade unionists... But little by little, the influence of the French Communist Party (Parti communiste français or PCF) over the CGTU increased. The non-communists founded the Revolutionnary Trade Unionist General Confederation of Labour (Confédération générale du travail - syndicaliste révolutionnaire or CGTSR).

In 1934, the left-wing parties chosen the union against the far-right. Two years later, the "Popular Front" won the 1936 legislative election. In the same time, the CGT and the CGTU were reunited. It negociated with government and employers and knew many new members. Nevertheless, the communists were ejected in due to the German-Soviet pact in 1939, then the CGT was dissolved by the Vichy government.

The CGT revived as undergroud organization in the Resistance. It became increasingly influenced by the French Communist Party. After the ejection of the communists from the government and the 1947 general strike a further split took place, this time involving the departure of the reformist right, followed in 1948, when Léon Jouhaux founded Workers' Force (Force ouvrière or FO). This one criticized the communist influence like incompatible with the Charte d'Amiens. In order to preserve its unity, the Federation of the National Education (Fédération de l'Education nationale or FEN) left the CGT but did not joined FO. The communist Benoît Frachon took the lead of the CGT.

If the CGT was dominant in the French trade unionism, it was isolated until 1966. At this moment, it chosen to coordinate its actions with the French Democratic Confederation of Labour (Confédération française démocratique du travail or CFDT). During May 68, the confederation was criticized by the far-left because its leader Georges Séguy had signed Grenelle agreement with Prime minister Georges Pompidou. In the 1970s, it supported the "Union of Left". But after the defeat of the 1978 legislative election, the union with the CFDT broken.

The election of Henri Krasucki in 1982 then, the resignation of the communist ministers two years later meant a radicalisation of the confederation. Finally, during the 1990s, under the lead of Louis Viannet and Bernard Thibault, the CGT cut organic links with the French Communist Party and managed to remain one of the two major French union confederations.

It partcipated to the social conflicts against Alain Juppé's plan of Welfare State reforms (1995), pensions reforms (2003) and the Contrat première embauche (2006).

The CGT left the Communist-oriented World Federation of Trade Unions at its 1995 congress and became a member of European Trade Union Confederation in 1999.