The 53rd Congress of the CGT, which opened Monday in a very tense atmosphere, was Tuesday the scene of an unexpected vote of no confidence vis-à-vis the outgoing management, which increases the suspense on the succession of Philip Martinez. The delegates present at the Grande Halle d’Auvergne, in the agglomeration of Clermont-Ferrand, rejected by 50.32% of the votes cast the activity report of the outgoing management, a major setback for Philippe Martinez and the candidate who he had chosen to replace him, Marie Buisson.
This ballot is a “vote by mandates”, which means that each delegate’s vote has been “well debated” within the unions, “it is not a mood vote (…) so it is not is not a small signal sent to the outgoing management,” she stressed. Throughout the afternoon, the speakers had succeeded in the podium to criticize the orientations of the outgoing management, and the lack of internal democracy at the CGT.
They notably denounced Philippe Martinez’s approval of the idea of ??”mediation” on the pension file, put forward on Tuesday morning by his CFDT counterpart Laurent Berger. “Comrade Philippe Martinez, who gave you a mandate to talk about mediation while the workers are on the streets? “, challenged Murielle Morand, of the Federation of Chemistry.
Congress opened Monday in a stormy atmosphere, with several representatives of the trade federation forcing their way into the Congress hall to protest against the fact that they could not sit there. The management had suffered several hostile votes, including one modifying the regulations of the Congress, which put back in the saddle the candidacy of the restless secretary general of the Departmental Union of Bouches-du-Rhône, Olivier Mateu, whose radical line should not however not allow him to prevail.
“This is the first time that I have experienced a tense congress like this”, testified the secretary general of the Federation Mines Energie, Sébastien Menesplier. Support of Céline Verzeletti, he asked that the “three emerging candidates” be “respected”, that of Marie Buisson like those of Céline Verzeletti and Olivier Mateu.
