The secretary general of the Union of Engineers, Executives and Technicians of the CGT was elected to head the union at the end of a crazy night.
By Philippine Robert
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VSouch of theater at 53e CGT congress. Sophie Binet has just been elected head of the Montreuil plant to replace Philippe Martinez. She is the first woman to head the CGT since its creation in 1895.
The name of this trade unionist had indeed been mentioned a few weeks ago in the corridors of the union, but she was not, however, part of the short list. But neither Marie Buisson, the designated heiress, nor Céline Verzeletti, the choice of the major protesting federations, nor the very radical Olivier Mateu will have succeeded in overcoming all the obstacles of this crazy race to become the new boss of the plant.
The general secretary of the Union of engineers, managers and technicians of the CGT was elected by the national confederal committee (CCN), a sort of parliament of the CGT which brings together the federations and the departmental unions, at the end of a wild night. of negotiations. A member of the outgoing team in charge of gender equality, the new General Secretary, born in 1982, will have the delicate task of reconciling a union deeply divided on many issues, as shown by the many clashes in this week. In the opinion of many participants, never had a congress been so explosive.
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#balancetonsalaire
Will she be able to pose as a unifier? Former philosophy student and principal education adviser at Blanc-Mesnil and Marseille, and ex-leader of the Unef, at the time of the anti-CPE movement, she has been involved on the left for a long time and was at the origin of the petition against labor law. While some point to her executive profile and her individualism, others describe her as “brilliant” and “unifying”.
In any case, in recent months it has shown strong support for the most dissenting fringes of the CGT by launching the hashtag #balancetonsalaire on Twitter in support of striking refinery employees, after the management of TotalEnergies affirmed that their average salary was €5,000.
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