Edmond Maire (; 24 January 1931 – 1 October 2017) was a French labor union leader. He was the secretary general of the

French Democratic Confederation of Labour The French Democratic Confederation of Labour (french: link=no, Confédération française démocratique du travail, CFDT) is a national trade union center, one of the five major French confederations of trade unions, led since 2012 by Laurent ...

(CFDT) from 1971 to 1988. He was dismissive of

strike action Strike action, also called labor strike, labour strike, or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to Labor (economics), work. A strike usually takes place in response to grievance (labour), employee grievance ...

s and supported a more equal

division of labour The division of labour is the separation of the tasks in any economic system or organisation so that participants may specialise (specialisation). Individuals, organizations, and nations are endowed with, or acquire specialised capabilities, and ...

Early life

Edmond Maire was born on 24 January 1931 in

Épinay-sur-Seine Épinay-sur-Seine (, literally ''Épinay on Seine'') is a commune in the northern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris. The church of Notre-Dame-des-Missions-du-cygne d'Enghien, designed by Paul Tournon, may be found ...

near Paris. His father was a railroad employee for the

SNCF The Société nationale des chemins de fer français (; abbreviated as SNCF ; French for "National society of French railroads") is France's national state-owned railway company. Founded in 1938, it operates the country's national rail traffi ...

at the

Gare du Nord The Gare du Nord (; English: ''station of the North'' or ''Northern Station''), officially Paris-Nord, is one of the six large mainline railway station termini in Paris, France. The station accommodates the trains that run between the capital ...

, and his mother was a housewife. He was raised as a devout Roman Catholic alongside six siblings. Maire was educated at the

Collège-lycée Jacques-Decour The Collège-lycée Jacques-Decour is a school in Paris, France, on avenue Trudaine. History The school was founded as the private Collège Sainte-Barbe in 1821 and renamed Collège Rollin in 1830. It was transplanted in 1876 from the Quartier ...

in Paris and did not go to university. He began working at 18 and took evening classes in chemistry at the

Conservatoire national des arts et métiers A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department (of a larger in ...

. He subsequently did his military service.

Career

Maire began his career as a chemist for

Pechiney Pechiney SA was a major aluminium conglomerate based in France. The company was acquired in 2003 by the Alcan Corporation, headquartered in Canada. In 2007, Alcan itself was taken over by mining giant Rio Tinto Alcan. Prior to its acquisition, ...

Aubervilliers Aubervilliers () is a commune in the Seine-Saint-Denis department, Île-de-France region, northeastern suburbs of Paris, France. The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Albertivillariens'' or ''Albertivillariennes''. Geography Localisati ...

near Paris. He quit his job to focus on activism. After he retired from the CFDT, he became the chief executive of Villages Vacances Familles, a chain of affordable holiday villages later known as Belambra Clubs.

Activism

Maire first joined the

French Confederation of Christian Workers The French Confederation of Christian Workers (french: italic=no, Confédération française des travailleurs chrétiens; CFTC) is one of the five major French confederation of trade unions, belonging to the social Christian tradition. It was ...

in 1954. In 1964, he was a co-founder of a secular splinter group, the French Democratic Confederation of Labour. Maire succeeded

Eugène Descamps Eugene is a common male given name that comes from the Greek εὐγενής (''eugenēs''), "noble", literally "well-born", from εὖ (''eu''), "well" and γένος (''genos''), "race, stock, kin". He took on a more centrist approach, which led more left-wing labour leaders like

Jacques Julliard Jacques Julliard (born 4 March 1933) is a French historian, columnist and essayist, and a former union leader. He is the author of numerous books. Life Early years Jacques Julliard was born on 4 March 1933 in Brénod, Ain. His father and grandf ...

to criticize him. For example, Maire dismissed

s as "old labour mythology." Instead, he was a proponent of a more equal

. In 1981, he complained that French

public intellectual An intellectual is a person who engages in critical thinking, research, and reflection about the reality of society, and who proposes solutions for the normative problems of society. Coming from the world of culture, either as a creator or a ...

s were not sufficiently supportive of his efforts. He was succeeded by

Jean Kaspar Jean may refer to: People * Jean (female given name) * Jean (male given name) * Jean (surname) Fictional characters * Jean Grey, a Marvel Comics character * Jean Valjean, fictional character in novel ''Les Misérables'' and its adaptations * Jea ...

. Maire joined the

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...

in 1974. He was close to

Pierre Mendès France Pierre Isaac Isidore Mendès France (; 11 January 190718 October 1982) was a French politician who served as prime minister of France for eight months from 1954 to 1955. As a member of the Radical Party, he headed a government supported by a co ...

Michel Rocard Michel Rocard (; 23 August 1930 – 2 July 2016) was a French politician and a member of the Socialist Party (PS). He served as Prime Minister under François Mitterrand from 1988 to 1991 during which he created the ''Revenu minimum d'ins ...

and

Jacques Delors Jacques Lucien Jean Delors (born 20 July 1925) is a French politician who served as the 8th President of the European Commission from 1985 to 1995. He served as Minister of the Economy, Finances and Industry (France), Minister of Finance of Fran ...

. He was a supporter of the 35-hour workweek passed by the Socialist government under Prime Minister

Lionel Jospin Lionel Robert Jospin (; born 12 July 1937) is a French politician who served as Prime Minister of France from 1997 to 2002. Jospin was First Secretary of the Socialist Party from 1995 to 1997 and the party's candidate for President of France in ...

in 2000.

Death and legacy

Maire died on 1 October 2017. One of his sons,

Jacques Maire Jacques Maire (born 4 April 1962) is a French politician who served as the member of the National Assembly for the 8th constituency of Hauts-de-Seine from 2017 to 2022. He is a member of La République En Marche! (LREM). Career In Parliament, M ...

, is a member of the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...

for

En Marche! Renaissance (RE), previously known as La République En Marche ! (frequently abbreviated LREM, LaREM or REM; translated as "The Republic on the Move" or "Republic Forward"), or sometimes called simply En Marche ! () as its original name, is a l ...

Upon his death,

Muriel Pénicaud Muriel Pénicaud (born 31 March 1955) is a former French business executive and politician who served as Minister of Labour in the government of Prime Minister Édouard Philippe from 17 May 2017 to 6 July 2020. In the private sector, Pénicaud ...

, the French Minister of Labour, tweeted that Maire "transformed and inspired

industrial relations Industrial relations or employment relations is the multidisciplinary academic field that studies the employment relationship; that is, the complex interrelations between employers and employees, labor/trade unions, employer organizations, ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maire, Edmond 1931 births 2017 deaths People from Épinay-sur-Seine French trade union leaders French Democratic Confederation of Labour members Légion d'honneur refusals