Marylise Léon is a fan of superheroes… and especially of superheroines. Her favorite character? Wonderwoman! Luckily, Laurent Berger entrusted him with a mission of the utmost importance: not to save the world, but to take his place at the head of the French Democratic Confederation of Labor (CFDT). The handover between the former secretary general and his former number two will be recorded this Wednesday, June 21, after a vote by the national office.
At 46, the task of the new boss of the CFDT will be less difficult than that of Sophie Binet at the CGT, who must pick up the pieces of a fragmented organization. Unlike her colleague, the arrival of Marylise Léon at the head of the union did not create a stir: she was chosen by Laurent Berger, who announced her departure in April.
Born in Le Mans but from Finistère at heart, with a degree in environmental chemistry, passionate about knitting and running, Marylise Léon did not immediately plunge into the deep end of trade unionism. She began by working for a consulting firm, as a quality-safety-environment manager. Before being recruited by the Chemistry Energy Federation three years later, in 2003, to train activists on technological risks.
In 2008, Marylise Léon took her first mandate within the Federation. She then dealt with major industrial risks, the prevention of occupational diseases and the paper-cardboard branch. In 2014, she joined the executive committee of the CFDT, that is to say the management, and is in particular responsible for industrial issues.
She will live her baptism of fire there with her first interprofessional negotiation, on the modernization of social dialogue. A failure: employers and unions cannot reach an agreement. Four years later, she became Deputy Secretary General. Number two in the organization, right arm of Laurent Berger, she receives the delicate file of unemployment insurance, on which she will scrap hard against the Medef, again without succeeding in finding an agreement, and that of inter-union relations .
Now that the pension file is closed, Marylise Léon will have to make her mark on another crucial subject, France Travail, in particular the conditioning of the RSA, a red line for the union. Facing him is a formidable enemy: a government that disregards unions. And at his side an inter-union whose future is unclear.
Another challenge, succeeding in making people forget Laurent Berger, who leaves the CFDT with a brilliant record (the Confederation has become the first union under his era), crowned with glory and adored by part of the left.