General Confederation of Labor (France)

The General Confederation of Labour (French: Confédération Général du Travail) of France (CGT) is a trade union organization founded on September 23, 1895 in Limoges. Originally apolitical, it advocated the voluntary organization of society from the unions, and later it was derived to very different positions.

History

It was the main organization that brought together French workers before the First World War. In 1921 there was a split between reformists (mainly socialists) and revolutionaries (communists), the latter creating the CGT-Unitaria. Reunification would take place in 1936, in the context of the rapprochement between socialists and communists that was taking place throughout Europe.

In 1940 the collaborationist Vichy government dissolved and outlawed the CGT and the affiliated union confederations. In 1943, in hiding, the CGT was reunited.

Since the liberation of France in 1944, the CGT became the main union in the country, bringing together almost the entire trade union world. The arrival of the Cold War and the hegemony of the French Communist Party (PCF) within the confederation produced the departure of the Christian Democrat and Social Democratic factions (Fuerza Obrera, 1948), leaving it as a clearly pro-communist union. Even with some erosion in membership, the CGT has remained the leading union in France and, despite the electoral debacle of the French communists since 1981, the union has not been surpassed in membership and importance by any other..

Globe with the logo of the CGT during a demonstration held on 31 May 2011.

In recent years the CGT has partially freed itself from communist tutelage, getting closer to social democracy. However, it continues to be strongly linked to the PCF.