Marylise Léon succeeds Laurent Berger at the head of a "fit" CFDT

June 21, 2023

Marylise Léon succeeded Laurent Berger at the head of the CFDT on Wednesday, during a day of speeches and debates at the Zénith de Paris which was also an opportunity for the first French union to celebrate in a joyful mood. its good “form” and its cohesion.

Aged 46, Marylise Léon, who had been the number two in the union since 2018, announced at midday that she had been elected secretary general of the CFDT unanimously by the national office, becoming the second woman to hold this position after Nicole Notat.

“I am very lucky to take over from Laurent because the house is doing very well, it is consistent, there is a lot of internal solidarity. I know that the workers are counting on the CFDT”, she said. commented to the press.

In her first speech as number one, Ms. Léon followed in the footsteps of Laurent Berger, defending a trade unionism “which knows how to firmly oppose when necessary, but also firmly negotiate compromises”, and sees in the CFDT a organization which works for a “more democratic, more social and more ecological society”.

The CFDT will fight for wage increases in the private and public sectors, a “real conditionality of public aid”, the “creation of a real right to retraining”, “providence for all”, the “recognition of hardship “, the creation of a universal time savings account and the revision of the work orders of 2017, she promised.

Representative of the CFDT within the inter-union which led the battle against the pension reform, Ms. Léon considered that “the interests of the workers require that the trade unions work together”, while affirming that it is ” not an end in itself”, but a “means of the balance of power” among others.

On a more personal note, she paid a moving and highly acclaimed tribute to Laurent Berger, a “sacred good man” who knew how to create “such a beautiful organization”, and thanks to which “the mix in the organization did not remain wishful thinking”.

Earlier in the day, Mr. Berger, who became secretary general in November 2012, said he was “proud of what (the CFDT has) built during these 11 years of campaigning together”.

The CFDT is “not perfect but it is in good shape. Together we have become the first trade union organization! (in 2018, editor’s note) We assume leadership in the trade union world”, he congratulated himself in front of some 2,700 activists.

Mr. Berger mentioned the “46,000” members who have joined the CFDT since January (for 612,000 members at the end of 2022), thanks to a social conflict against the pension reform which has breathed new life into trade unionism.

The one who may have appeared as the first opponent of Emmanuel Macron defended in his speech the “line” of the CFDT, consisting in “seeking a compromise” without “lowering his head when they try to walk on us”.

“The debate on pensions was no exception”, he said, scratching in passing, without naming him, the President of the Republic: “To discredit our action, some have tried to sue us in irresponsibility. So I repeat it here for the last time: it is a bogus trial”.

In his closing remarks, after a video of activists paying tribute to him with humor and emotion, he said he had a “sense of duty accomplished”, assuring that he was now going to “shut up”, “rest and reflect on the follow-up professional, in September”.

Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne, who had received the two leaders on Friday at Matignon, praised in a tweet on Wednesday “the 10 years of mandate of Laurent Berger at the head of the CFDT”, saying that she shared with this “demanding and committed union official ( …) the conviction that social dialogue is key”. “The work with Marylise Léon continues. I know her commitment and her desire to move forward,” she added.