A-Infos (en) France, UCL AL #373 - Trade Unionism - 54th CGT Congress: Nothing is settled! (ca, de, fr, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

Very large majority votes and relatively calm exchanges, but without 
serious debate on the challenges and disagreements facing the CGT. Very 
general guidelines without a real roadmap. Initial assessment. --- With 
an activity report approved by 80%, resolutions adopted by around 75% of 
the mandates, and a smooth election of the confederation's leadership, 
the 54th congress reinforced the leadership duo of Sophie Binet and 
Laurent Brun. The control of speeches by the congress bureau, instead of 
the usual (and sometimes unconventional) open mic, allowed for a 
filtering process that gave a platform to caricatured 
virulence-particularly from those close to the Union for Communist 
Reconstruction (URC)-but not to the real issues.

Between the International Trade Union Confederation's (ITUC) 
announcement condemning the Cuban blockade and Sophie Binet's invitation 
to the AFL-CIO congress[1], a major first, the leadership is boasting of 
its influence in international trade unionism. As a result, the 
neo-Stalinists opposed to the ITUC have strangely remained silent 
throughout the week, even as they hold numerous problematic public 
meetings in the departments[2].

On the front of trade union unification, the Common House[3]initiative 
has been approved without debate, but nothing is really progressing. And 
there is no clear position on how the agenda negotiated within the 
inter-union framework should be reconciled with the independent action 
of the CGT.

There is no clear choice between company unions and industry unions[4], 
only a vague right for isolated local unions to experiment with their 
own. "Confused" because a local industry union is only viable if it is 
based on organized businesses in the same sector. "Confused" because the 
(narrow) rejection of the proposal to create a mediation commission 
failed to resolve the obstacles to the creation of these unions when 
they were required to have dual federal and territorial affiliation. 
Disputes will therefore continue to paralyze union activity or be 
settled in court.

The protocol against sexist and sexual violence was incorporated into 
the bylaws. However, this vote was largely symbolic since it was already 
in effect and, more importantly, it did not generate any serious debate 
on its various weaknesses. In particular, the lack of resources prevents 
the rapid processing of reports. Finally, a word on the importance of 
local unions (UL) and departmental unions (UD), which were discussed at 
length during the congress, but without any major decisions other than 
pressure on local unions to allocate more resources. While it is the 
federations that actually possess the financial resources and union 
staff, this imbalance weighs on the proper democratic functioning of the 
National Confederal Committee-the sovereign body between two confederal 
congresses, composed of one representative from each federation and each 
departmental union. This imbalance and its impact will be the subject of 
a future article.

Jean-Yves (UCL Limousin)

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[1]Main union group in the United States.

[2]Co-organized by the URC, the chemical federation, and departmental 
unions affiliated with the World Federation of Trade Unions.

[3]See also "Uniting to Fight Better," Alternative libertaire no. 359, 
April 2025. 
https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Syndicalisme-Unifier-pour-mieux-lutter

[4]See also "The Stakes of the 54th CGT Congress," Alternative 
libertaire no. 370, April 2026. 
https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Congres-syndical-Les-enjeux-du-54e-congres-de-la-CGT

https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?54e-congres-de-la-CGT-Rien-n-est-regle
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