The Matignon Agreements (French: ''Accords de Matignon'') were signed on 7 June 1936, between the '' Confédération générale de la production française'' (CGPF) employers' organization, the CGT

trade union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

and the French state. They were signed during a massively followed general strike initiated after the election of the Popular Front in May 1936, which had led to the creation of a left-wing government headed by Léon Blum ( SFIO). Sometimes referred to by legal scholars as the "

Magna Carta (Medieval Latin for "Great Charter"), sometimes spelled Magna Charta, is a royal charter of rights agreed to by King John of England at Runnymede, near Windsor, on 15 June 1215. First drafted by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Cardin ...

of French Labor", these agreements were signed at the Hôtel Matignon, official residence of the head of the government, hence their name.

May–June general strike and agreements

The negotiations, in which participated Benoît Frachon for the CGT, Marx Dormoy (SFIO) as under-secretary of state to the President of the Council, Jean-Baptiste Lebas (SFIO, Minister of Labour), had started on 6 June at 3 PM, but the pressure from the workers' movement was such that the employers' confederation quickly accepted the unions' terms. A general strike had been initiated in

Le Havre Le Havre is a major port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy (administrative region), Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the Seine, river Seine on the English Channel, Channe ...

on 26 May, accompanied by factory occupations to prevent lock outs, and had quickly spread to all of France. More than a million workers were on strike. The social movement immediately followed the electoral victory of the Popular Front, in order to reach this position of force. Interior Minister Roger Salengro publicly announced the following day the success of the negotiations. Without having to organize strike in each factory in order to gain some advantages for them, all of the workers benefited with these agreements of: *the legal right to strike *the removal of all obstacles to union organization (including the right to have representatives, named '' délégués du personnel'', elected by

secret ballot The secret ballot, also known as the Australian ballot, is a voting method in which a voter's identity in an election or a referendum is anonymous. This forestalls attempts to influence the voter by intimidation, blackmailing, and potential vote ...

, which may not be fired without approval from the labour inspection - ''inspection du travail'' - and thus are protected from pressures by the employers *and a blanket 7-12 percent wage increase for all workers (it is thus the reverse of

deflation In economics, deflation is a decrease in the general price level of goods and services. Deflation occurs when the inflation rate falls below 0% and becomes negative. While inflation reduces the value of currency over time, deflation increases i ...

, and is an economic policy based on

demand In economics, demand is the quantity of a goods, good that consumers are willing and able to purchase at various prices during a given time. In economics "demand" for a commodity is not the same thing as "desire" for it. It refers to both the desi ...

) (the female workers in

Verdun Verdun ( , ; ; ; official name before 1970: Verdun-sur-Meuse) is a city in the Meuse (department), Meuse departments of France, department in Grand Est, northeastern France. It is an arrondissement of the department. In 843, the Treaty of V ...

even succeeded in obtaining a 400% wages increase) Furthermore, Blum's government deposed on 5 June five law projects, prepared by the Minister of Labour Jean-Baptiste Lebas, which were easily adopted during the month. These laws granted: *paid vacations (two weeks - for the first time in France) (voted by 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 repr ...

on 20 June 1936) * 40-hour work week paid 48 (adopted by the Assembly on 21 June 1936). *

collective bargaining Collective bargaining is a process of negotiation between employers and a group of employees aimed at agreements to regulate working salaries, working conditions, benefits, and other aspects of workers' compensation and labour rights, rights for ...

(adopted by the Assembly on 24 June 1936) *the repeal of the 1935 decree-laws concerning the wages of public servants and the taxes on World War I veterans' pensions. On 11 June, Maurice Thorez, national secretary of the French Communist Party (PCF), stated that "one must know how to finish a strike, at the moment that the main points have been obtained." His declaration was published in '' L'Humanité'', the press organ of the PCF. Alluding to Marceau Pivert's famous statement, he recalled that "Not everything was possible but the slogan is still: 'Everything for the Popular Front!' 'Everything by the Popular Front'"French: ''"il faut savoir terminer une grève, dès l'instant où les revendications essentielles ont été obtenues''".. "''Tout n'est pas possible mais le mot d'ordre reste Tout pour le front populaire! Tout par le Front populaire!"''. Work was resumed at the

Renault Renault S.A., commonly referred to as Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English), is a French Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company curr ...

factories on 13 and 15 June and in the steelworking industry.

Legacy

The ''délégués du personnel'' were suppressed under Vichy, and re-established by the 16 April 1945 Act passed by the GPRF provisional government.

May–June general strike and agreements

Legacy

References

See also