It should be noted that the French constitution assigns an important role to trade unions. Along with political parties, they are recognized as associations of citizens that promote democracy in the country and make a significant contribution to its development.
However, in ancient times this was not the case. Until the end of the 19th century, attempts by workers to unite to defend their rights were regularly repressed by both employers and the authorities. It was not until 1895 that the dispersed workers’ associations managed to create the first trade union federation, which was called the General Confederation of Labor (CGT). It still exists today, being one of the pillars of the trade union movement in France. He was considered almost the most militant, given his long-standing ties to the Communist Party, and the rest on the whole now. Although the degree of radicalism and disposition according to the precepts of Marx-Engels for a hard class struggle has diminished.
After all, in more than a century, dramatic changes have taken place in society and the economy. The base of the CGT, and it is the industrial workers, who once made up the lion’s share of wage earners, has shrunk considerably. The peak of the union central’s incredible popularity fell on several post-war decades. What, for example, says such a fact.
It turns out that the “star” of the cinema, Jean-Paul Belmondo, led from 1963 to 1966 the Union of Actors of France (SFA), which is part of the CGT. In addition, while still a student at the Conservatory of Dramatic Art, he starred in the film “Sunday Friends”, commissioned and financed by the VKT, where he played a metal worker. By the way, before him this union was headed by the legendary Gerard Philip, and his deputy was the most talented Michel Piccoli.
Of course, the CGT was and is not the only trade union center in the country. In the same years, others arose with different ideological foundations, including socialist, Christian or oriented towards certain professional segments of the population. Unlike the CGT, many of them are generally seen as reformist, with some resembling more the Democratic Confederation of Trade Unions (FDTU) or less like the Force Ouvrière (“Labour Force”). The French particularity here lies in the fact, as the eminent French economist and sociologist Jacques Sapir, a specialist in these schemes, has said that in each of these moderate trade union centers there are professional associations which can give each a length ahead in arrogance.
But through effort – some more, some less – unions have in many ways become the driving force behind the most serious social achievements. Even before the Second World War, together with the leftist parties, they obtained a 40-hour working week, paid holidays, and after that they initiated the creation of a social security system, which they manage on an equal footing with clientelism and the state. Free health care, unemployment benefits, occupational hazard insurance and many other things that still work. That is to say that the unions have become an integral part of the state in the broadest sense of the term to protect the interests not only of their members, but of all French people, coming from time to time into confrontation with those who would like to encroach on them under some “plausible pretext” happening nowadays.
< p class="">- It must be understood that the trade unions are the most important instrument of social peace in the country, - shared with me, rightly, Jacques Sapir. - Peace can only be ensured if the three parties - trade unions, businessmen and government - come to an agreement on certain issues that directly affect people's lives. Otherwise, everyone loses. It should be noted that trade unions do not always act together. The current united front is more of a landmark, but overall a rare exception. Suffice it to recall at least 1995, when the "democrats" of the FDCT took the side of the authorities who pushed through the previous edition of the pension reform (it was also a question of raising the retirement age) . Then, however, the trick failed, the country was blocked for a month by a nationwide strike, and in the end the government backed down. In all honesty, it must be said that compared to -war "thirty glorious years", when the influence of the unions in society was at its zenith and more than 59% of the workers were made up of them, the current alignment is different. Now they combine 10-11%. But this is the particularity of the French: the trade union centers are capable of mobilizing many more people for such and such an action than their immediate supporters, as evidenced by the current stormy events. So, despite the fact that only one in ten oil refineries in the country has a union card, 70% of the workers who blocked the shipment of fuel nationwide are on strike. Why did the unions, all eight of the largest, oppose the pension reform that Emmanuel Macron wants to complete, not by washing it away, but by dragging it to the end, despite the real danger of provoking a serious social crisis in the country? Because they don't consider it just or urgent. Unlike the president and his government, who call him "justified and responsible". Like, the French need to work longer to maintain the stability of the pension system, because this measure will allow to touch an additional budget of 11 to 14 billion euros. The trade unions are against plugging budgetary holes at the expense of millions of citizens. At the same time, they recall that previously the government had made concessions to French companies, reducing their various contributions to the public treasury by an amount of 65 billion euros. Thus confirming the stable opinion on the current head of the Fifth Republic as the “president of the rich”. In addition, they believe that with a two-year increase in the retirement age, even greater inequalities will appear, because they will affect many French people, especially those from the most vulnerable social strata. This will particularly affect the older generation. "The fact is that in France, from the age of 55, the number of people without work increases dramatically, specifies Jacques Sapir. They are more than half in this category, which means that they will not have the possibility of seniority required (43 years) to benefit from a full pension, which is unacceptable for the unions. In turn, they propose to raise taxes by 2% for the wealthiest fellow citizens, or to pay attention to dividends from shareholders of French companies and other companies. Last year, they were distributed to the tune of 80 billion euros. A sixth would therefore be enough to solve the problem and not plunge the country into a social crisis. But at the Elysee, apparently, this option is not considered. About the ongoing reform, one of the union officials said: "If for Macron it is the mother of all reforms, then for us it is the mother of all battles". Thus, this Saturday, hundreds of thousands of French people again took to the streets of the cities in columns of protest.
