Cyril Chabanier, September 19, 2023, in Matignon (AFP/Emmanuel Dunand)
Outgoing President Cyril Chabanier, 50, was re-elected Thursday evening at the head of the French Confederation of Christian Workers (CFTC), for a second term focused on “food and energy sovereignty” and better social dialogue.
The 49 confederal secretaries of the CFTC, the fifth representative French union, also elected or designated during this congress which is being held in Rennes until Friday, withdrew at the start of the evening to vote.
Cyril Chabanier, the only candidate, obtained 46 votes in total out of 47 voters (1 blank vote).
If during his first mandate at the head of a union which aims to be reformist, he had pleaded for a “feminization” and a “modernization of communication tools” for its members, this time, the native of Arles wants to campaign in in favor of “national or European sovereignty” regarding “food, energy, electronic components and medicines”.
“Producing differently also means making investments to green production in the ecological transition,” notes the former statistician at the National Family Allowance Fund (Cnaf), citing as an example “clean investments, short circuits for ‘food and green investments’.
We must “relocalize, reindustrialize with an upgrade,” insists Cyril Chabanier to AFP.
He also wants to “give meaning back to work”: “Companies must invest in CSR (social and environmental responsibility) because without it, we will no longer give meaning to work, and employees are increasingly sensitive to it”, he notably argues.
Finally, the union leader, who saw his notoriety grow during the mobilization against pension reform, wants to be a fervent defender of social dialogue and paritarianism, and defends the idea of ”a permanent and joint committee for social dialogue” in business, with a sort of “corporate social agenda” at the start of each year.
Short crew-cut hair, rectangular glasses, Cyril Chabanier has a master’s degree in economics and a DESS (BAC+5) in social sciences. He also has another passion, tennis.
He joined the CFTC in 2002, and presented himself as head of the CFTC list at the Cnaf the same year, before broadening his responsibilities within Social Security.
The fifth representative French union, the CFTC claims some 150,000 members.
© 2023 AFP
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