Charles Louis Laurent (18 March 1879 – 10 July 1965) was a French trade union leader. From 1899, Laurent worked for the Deposits and Consignments Fund, eventually rising to become office manager. He became interested in trade unionism, and in 1908 he established a loose federation of civil servants. It had 140,000 on its launch, and 228,000 the following year. It led a strike in the postal service that year, and this convinced Laurent to reform the body as the more formal Civil Servants' Federation, becoming its general secretary. The federation was able to sustain its membership, around half of whom were schoolteachers. In 1913, Laurent launched a union journal. Although the federation was forced to stop operations at the start of

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Laurent revived it in 1917. From 1915 to 1918, he served as a captain in the army, but remained based in Paris. In 1920, Laurent took the federation into the General Confederation of Labour (CGT). In 1922, he was laid off from his government job, and began working full-time for the union. In 1924, the government raided the union's offices in the hope of discovering evidence of fraud, but there was none, and this led Laurent into opposition to the National Bloc. From 1925 until 1940, Laurent served on the National Economic Council. He also served on the executive of the CGT from 1927, and as secretary of the International Federation of Civil Servants from 1931, then of its successor, the

International Federation of Employees in Public and Civil Services Public Services International (PSI) is the global union federation for workers in public services, including those who work in social services, health care, municipal services, central government and public utilities. , PSI has 700 affiliat ...

. Although he opposed the communists, he accepted them into the union in 1937, remaining its leader. Laurent opposed the Vichy government, later moving to London and serving on the

National Council of the Resistance The National Council of the Resistance (also, National Resistance Council; in French: ''Conseil National de la Résistance'' (CNR), was the body that directed and coordinated the different movements of the French Resistance: the press, trade unio ...

, then on the

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. In 1946, he left his trade union posts, being nominated by the CGT as the government commissioner for the banque de l’Union parisienne. Laurent retired in 1963 and died two years later. He was awarded the

Légion d’honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon B ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Laurent, Charles 1879 births 1965 deaths French trade union leaders Recipients of the Legion of Honour