# French Democratic Confederation of Labour

The French Democratic Confederation of Labour (French: Confédération française démocratique du travail, CFDT) is a national trade union center, one of the five major French confederations of trade unions, led since 2023 by Marylise Léon [fr]. It is the second largest French trade union confederation by number of members (625,000) and recently becoming first in voting results for representative bodies, having traditionally been second.

## History

The CFDT has its roots in Christian trade unionism of the French Confederation of Christian Workers (CFTC).
After the Liberation of France, a left-wing minority, grouped in the Reconstruction tendency, led an internal debate in favour of the “deconfessionalization” seeking to secularise the CFTC and achieve greater autonomy from political and religious circles with which the confederation's leadership had been associated. The Reconstruction movement also campaigned for left-wing, social democracy and democratic trade unionism without being Marxist, and against the European treaties deemed to restore a capitalist Europe, under the guise of Christian democracy.
This tendency took root in the mineworker and steelworker sections, in the wake of French Resistance and the Bataille de la production [fr], Gradually the movement grew in strength within the CFTC, becoming its dominant force in to 1960s under the leadership of Eugène Descamps [fr].
The breakthrough came in 1964, when an extraordinary CFTC congress—held at the Palais des Sports in Paris on 6 and 7 November—voted to secularise the CFTC and rename it to the French Democratic Confederation of Labour (CFDT). A minority of approximately 10% opposed the change and instead followed Joseph Sauty's [fr] into the immediately refounded "continuation French Confederation of Christian Workers".
At first, under the leadership of Eugène Descamps, the CFDT presented itself as a social-democratic confederation close to the Unified Socialist Party (Parti socialiste unifié or PSU) which was led by Pierre Mendès-France. It sometimes acted in concert with the Communist Party aligned General Confederation of Labour (CGT). This alliance took a part in the May 68 upheaval. Then, the CFDT was auto-gestionary.
In 1974, many PSU and CFDT members joined the Socialist Party (Parti socialiste or PS) led by François Mitterrand. With Michel Rocard at their helm, they formed an internal opposition called "the second left". They abandoned the auto-gestionary project and advocated aligning themselves with the European social-democracy model. At the same time, under the leadership of Edmond Maire, the CFDT cut its ties with the CGT.
In the 1980s, after François Mitterrand's election and his choice to follow social democratic economic policies, the CFDT appeared to be a pro-governmental organization. During this time a lot of members and voters were lost. In the 1990s, under the leadership of Nicole Notat, the CFDT chose to distance its strategy from the PS. In this, it supported Alain Juppé's plan of Welfare State reform. It replaced Force ouvrière (FO) as the "main partner" of employers and right-wing governments, and the presidency of social security offices.
In 2003, the support of the new CFDT leader François Chérèque for pensions reform plans caused an internal crisis. Some CFDT members left the confederation and chose the CGT or the autonomous trade unions SUD. However, the CFDT participated with the other confederations to the 2006 conflict about the Contrat première embauche (CPE).

## Professional elections

The CFDT won 21.81% of the vote in the employee's college during the 2008 professional elections, making it the second largest trade union in terms of votes in those elections. This result, however, is below the CFDT's 25.23% result in 2002 and its top result to date, 25.35% in 1997.

## Affiliates
### Current

The following federations are affiliated:
| Federation | Abbreviation | Founded | Membership (2017) |
| Chemistry and Energy Federation | FCE | 1997 | 37,428 |
| Communication, Consulting, Culture Federation | F3C | 2005 | 43,666 |
| Federation of Banks and Insurance | FBA | 1954 | |
| Federation of Health and Social Services | Santé Sociaux | 1935 | 93,570 |
| Federation of General Unions of National Education | SGEN | 1937 | 24,952 |
| Federation of Services | CFDT Services | 1913 | 81,094 |
| Federation of Social Protection, Work and Employment | PSTE | | |
| Federation of State Establishments and Arsenals | FEAE | 1962 | |
| Finance Federation | CFDT Finances | | |
| General Agri-Food Federation | FGA | 1980 | 37,428 |
| General Federation of Mines and Metallurgy | FGMM | 1984 | 56,142 |
| General Federation of Transport and the Environment | FGTE | 1977 | 43,666 |
| Interco Federation | Interco | 1974 | 68,618 |
| National Federation of Construction and Wood Workers | FNCB | 1934 | 24,952 |
| Private Training and Education Federation | FEP | 1938 | |
Other affiliates are:
* CFDT Executives (UCC CFDT)
* Confederate Union of Retired Persons (UCR CFDT)
* Union of Public Service and Similar Federations (UFFA)

### Former

| Union | Left | Reason not affiliated |
| Equipment Federation | 1977 | Merged into FGTE |
| Federation of Chemicals and Glass | 1997 | Merged into FCE |
| Federation of Food, Hotel, Cafe and Restaurant Workers | 1980 | Merged into FGA |
| Federation of French Sailors and Fishermen | 1977 | Merged into FGTE |
| Federation of Judicial Professions | | |
| Federation of Labour Ministry Employees | | |
| Federation of Miners | 1984 | Merged into FGMM |
| Federation of Railway Workers | 1977 | Merged into FGTE |
| Federation of Social Security | | |
| Federation of Transport | 1977 | Merged into FGTE |
| Federation of the Textile, Clothing and Leather Industries | 2007 | Merged into CFDT Services |
| Federation of Unions of Post and Telecommunications | 2005 | Merged into F3C |
| French Federation of Unions of Commercial Travellers and Agents | | |
| French Federation of Police Unions | | |
| General Federation of Agriculture | 1980 | Merged into FGA |
| General Federation of Metallurgy | 1984 | Merged into FGMM |
| National Federation of Civil Aviation | | |
| National Federation of Personnel of the Electricity and Gas Industries | 1997 | Merged into FCE |
| National Federation of Unions of Communal Employees | 1974 | Merged into Interco |
| National Federation of Unions of Printing Trades, Paper and Cardboard Workers | 1971 | Merged into CFDT Services |

## Leadership
### General Secretaries

    1964: Eugène Descamps
    1971: Edmond Maire
    1988: Jean Kaspar
    1992: Nicole Notat
    2002: François Chérèque
    2012: Laurent Berger
    2023: Marylise Léon [fr]

### Presidents

    1964: Georges Levard
    1967: André Jeanson
    1971: Laurent Lucas
    1973: Post abolished

## Notable members

* Edmond Maire
* François Chérèque
* Nicole Notat
* Pierre Rosanvallon