The General Confederation of Labor - Workers' Force (french: Confédération Générale du Travail - Force Ouvrière, or simply , FO), is one of the five major union confederations in France. In terms of following, it is the third behind the CGT and the

CFDT 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 Be ...

. Force Ouvrière was founded in 1948 by former members of the General Confederation of Labor (CGT) who denounced the dominance of the

French Communist Party The French Communist Party (french: Parti communiste français, ''PCF'' ; ) is a political party in France which advocates the principles of communism. The PCF is a member of the Party of the European Left, and its MEPs sit in the European Uni ...

over that federation. FO is a member of the

European Trade Union Confederation The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) is the major trade union organisation representing workers at the European level. In its role as a European social partner, the ETUC works both in a consulting role with the European Commission and n ...

. Its leader is Pascal Pavageau since April 2018.

History

After World War II, members of the French Communist Party attained considerable influence within the CGT, controlling 21 of its 30 federations. Senior figures such as Robert Bothereau and the former secretary general,

Léon Jouhaux Léon Jouhaux (1 July 1879 – 28 April 1954) was a French trade union leader who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1951. Biography Jouhaux was born in Pantin, Seine-Saint-Denis, France. Jouhaux's father worked in a match factory in Aubervillier ...

, opposed this development. These opponents denounced Communist influence as a threat to the independent position of trade unions, a principle enshrined in the 1906 '' Charte d'Amiens''. They founded a paper, ''Force ouvrière''. In 1947, a

general strike A general strike refers to a strike action in which participants cease all economic activity, such as working, to strengthen the bargaining position of a trade union or achieve a common social or political goal. They are organised by large coa ...

, fought against the backdrop of the developing Cold War, divided the CGT. The Communist ministers were excluded from the government led by

Paul Ramadier Paul Ramadier (17 March 1888 in La Rochelle – 14 October 1961 in Rodez) was a French statesman. Biography The son of a psychiatrist, Ramadier graduated in law from the University of Toulouse and started his profession as a lawyer in Pari ...

, a Socialist. In this context, the internal CGT opposition created a new trade-union confederation, called FO. The majority of its founders were from the socialist ranks. In February 1958 the African branches of FO became an independent organization, '' Confédération Africaine des Syndicats Libres-FO''. Wallerstein, Immanuel Maurice.
Africa: The Politics of Independence and Unity
'. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2005. p. 188Meynaud, Jean, and Anisse Salah Bey.
Trade Unionism in Africa
'. Lond: Methuen, 1967. p. 166 In the 1960s, when

André Bergeron André Louis Bergeron (1 January 1922 – 19 September 2014) was a French trade union leader. Born in Suarce, Bergeron was brought up in the Plymouth Brethren faith, but broke with it while still at school, joining the Socialist Youth. H ...

became leader of the Confederation, the links between FO and the

French Section of the Workers' International The French Section of the Workers' International (french: Section française de l'Internationale ouvrière, SFIO) was a political party in France that was founded in 1905 and succeeded in 1969 by the modern-day Socialist Party. The SFIO was found ...

(SFIO) became distended. Indeed, if Bergeron was an SFIO member, he was also the "main partner" of the employers and the right-wing governments. In this, FO presided the social security offices. Besides, it welcomed Conservatives and Far-Left, notably members of the

Internationalist Communist Organization The Internationalist Communist Organisation (french: Organisation Communiste Internationaliste, OCI) was a Trotskyist political party in France. Its successor was the Internationalist Communist Current of the Workers Party. History Origins The g ...

. The hostility to the CGT and to the

is the cement of the confederation. In the 1970s, FO leaders were sceptical about the Socialist strategy of alliance with the Communist Party. Then, they criticized the nomination of Communist ministers in 1981. After

François Mitterrand François Marie Adrien Maurice Mitterrand (26 October 19168 January 1996) was President of France, serving under that position from 1981 to 1995, the longest time in office in the history of France. As First Secretary of the Socialist Party, he ...

's election, FO presented like the only independent trade-union confederation. In 1989,

Marc Blondel Marc Fiacre Henri Blondel (2 May 1938 – 16 March 2014) was a French trade union leader. Born in Courbevoie, Blondel grew up with his mother in Hénin-Liétard, while his father was active in the French Resistance. After the war, the fami ...

was elected leader of FO, against the will of Bergeron. He wanted to preserve the independence of the confederation. Supported by the radical minority, he adopted a more combative attitude. In this, he participated in the 1995 social conflict against

Alain Juppé Alain Marie Juppé (; born 15 August 1945) is a French politician. A member of The Republicans, he was Prime Minister of France from 1995 to 1997 under President Jacques Chirac, during which period he faced major strikes that paralysed the coun ...

's plans for welfare reform, and improved relations with the CGT. In consequence, FO lost the precedence of social security offices for the benefit of the

Confédération Française Démocratique du Travail 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 Be ...

. In 2003, Blondel called for a general strike against the plan of pensions reforms. Then, he let his function to

Jean-Claude Mailly Jean-Claude Mailly (born 12 March 1953) is a French former trade union leader. Born in Béthune, Mailly grew up in Lens, then studied economic science in Lille. He found work with the National Health Insurance Fund. In 1974, he met Marc Blonde ...

. FO participated in the 2006 campaign against the ''

Contrat première embauche The ''contrat première embauche'' (CPE; en, first employment contract) was a new form of employment contract pushed in spring 2006 in France by Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin. This employment contract, available solely to employees unde ...

''. In April 2018, Pascal Pavageau, which presents himself as being part of the historical and traditional Workers' Force trend (independence of trade unions towards the political parties) became the new secretary general.

General Secretaries

* Robert Bothereau (1948-1963) *

(1963-1989) *

(1989-2004) *

(2004-2018) * Pascal Pavageau (2018-2018) * Yves Veyrier (2018 to date)

CIA involvement

The group's ties with the American

Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...

(CIA) were leaked in 1967 by Thomas Braden, a former director of covert operations for the agency. In his expose on ''

The Saturday Evening Post ''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine, currently published six times a year. It was issued weekly under this title from 1897 until 1963, then every two weeks until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely c ...

'', Braden wrote of the CGT strike: "Into this crisis stepped ayLovestone and his assistant,

Irving Brown Irving Brown (Bronx, November 20, 1911 – Paris, February 10, 1989) was an American trade union, trade unionist and leader in the American Federation of Labor (AFL) and subsequently the AFL-CIO. Brown played a prominent role in Western Europe a ...

. With funds from Dubinsky's

union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''U ...

, they organized Force Ouvrière, a non-Communist union. When they ran out of money, they appealed to the CIA. Thus began the secret subsidy of free trade unions which soon spread to Italy. Without that subsidy, postwar history might have gone very differently." American influence was never total, and there were disputes between FO leadership and the American representatives (for example, over French colonialism). The Reagan administration continued support to the organization through the

National Endowment for Democracy The National Endowment for Democracy (NED) is an organization in the United States that was founded in 1983 for promoting democracy in other countries by promoting political and economic institutions such as political groups, trade unions, ...

Professional elections

FO won 15.81% of the vote in the employees' college during the 2008 professional elections. This is below FO's 18.28% result in 2002. Its highest ever result was 20.55% in 1997.

Affiliates

The following federations are affiliated: The General Federation of Public Servants brings together those federations representing civil servants.

References