2023-04-19 10:59:47
Posted Apr 19, 2023, 11:48 AMUpdated on Apr 19, 2023 at 12:59 PM
He announced in June 2022 that he would not complete his last term as head of the CFDT. Laurent Berger announced this Wednesday at the national office of his organization that he will leave on June 21 his duties as secretary general of the first union in France. “A well-considered decision […] neither a whim, nor a choice dictated by current events”, he explains in an interview with “Le Monde”, but the wish to “quite simply respect collective rules and a form of personal ethics”.
“I have held this position for ten and a half years, a period close to that of the mandates of my predecessors, François Chérèque and Nicole Notat. Initially, I was thinking of leaving a little earlier, in June 2022, but it would have been complicated to do so at that time, ”he continues.
The choice of Marylise Léon
Laurent Berger indicates that he has proposed that it be Marylise Léon, current number two, who succeeds him. “She is capable, with the team that will be around her, of giving new impetus,” he explains, highlighting in particular her “strong” understanding of the world of work.
This choice resulting from a “collective process” happened “in a peaceful and serene way, very naturally”, he continues, adding that it is, according to him, “important that women are at the head of organizations unions”. The CGT has also been led for less than three weeks by Sophie Binet.
31,000 members since the beginning of 2023
Asked regarding the fact that he can be blamed for leaving the ship in the midst of a pension battle, the union leader explains that “it’s the opposite”: “I will leave a CFDT which is going well. It has 31,000 more members since the beginning of the year. It has created several hundred union sections. It is the first trade union organization in this country. It is recognized as a responsible, combative and constructive organization. »
He says he is “aware that this is a special period. But who tells you that it won’t be the same in October? Or in June? “, he asks. “I am not essential to the CFDT. »
While some suspect him of having political ambitions, Laurent Berger repeats that “no, he will not be a candidate in 2027”. “I don’t know how to say it anymore. I will not engage in politics,” he insists.
He takes the opportunity, on the other hand, to send a message “to left-wing personalities who would think that[il pourrait] be a recourse”: “It should encourage them to work much more on the substance, to grasp the complexity of society, to talk regarding work, inequalities, the economy, public services, taxation – with nuance and without caricature. It should also lead them to talk regarding Europe to see how we build it, and not how we jeer at it,” he says.
And what does he plan to do next? Laurent Berger says he has “no professional or militant landing point”. He intends to commit further “for social justice, ecological transition and human rights”. “It can take on voluntary or professional commitments,” he explains.
And to insist: “I will remain a European activist and an activist for democracy. I will fight until the end to avoid the drama of the extreme right. »
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