Workers' Force (CPE, First Employment Contract). It supported the movement against the El Khomri law on labor in spring 2016. The CGT left the Communist-oriented World Federation of Trade Unions at its 1995 congress and became a member of the European Trade Union Confederation in 1999. It is also a member of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) created in 2006. However, several federations and regional branches of the CGT are affiliated to the WFTU. Professional elections. The CGT won 34% of the vote in the employee's college during the 2008 professional elections, making it the largest trade union in 	General Confederation of Labour (France)
2783991	terms of votes in those elections. This positive result marked the first professional election in which the CGT's vote share had not declined: it had declined constantly from 36.35% in 1987 to 32.13% in 2002. In Africa. In 1937 CGT began organizing workers in French West Africa. The union's functioning was interrupted by its banning by the Vichy regime, but in 1943-1948 a process of reconstruction took place. The main centers of activity were Senegal, Ivory Coast, Togo and the French Soudan. CGT had an upper hand in the Muslim regions in comparison to its main rival 	General Confederation of Labour (France)
2783992	CFTC, who depended on the presence of Catholic communities for its recruitment. CGT emerged as the major trade union force amongst the 100 000 strong organized labour force in Senegal and Mauritania after the Second World War. Within the CGT branches in the region, there was however a growing wish for independence. A leader of CGT in French West Africa, Bassirou Guèye, promoted this idea. At a meeting of the Territorial Union of Trade Unions in Senegal and Mauritania, held in Dakar November 11–November 12, 1955, the majority of delegates voted for separation from the French CGT. A conference 	General Confederation of Labour (France)
2783993	was held in Saint-Louis on January 14–January 15, 1956 which formed the Confédération générale des travailleurs africains (CGTA), separating the parts of the West African CGT organizations from the French CGT. At the conference 50 out of 67 delegates had voted for separation. In Togo, CGT had 45,100 members in 1948 (65% of organized labour). By 1952 the number had decreased to 34,000 (46% of organized labour). CGT formed a branch in Madagascar in 1936. Support of week of global climate action. On July 16, 2019 Phillipe Martinez, Secretary General of the CGT, announced that the union will 	General Confederation of Labour (France)
2783994	support the week of climate action beginning on September 20, 2019. General Confederation of Labour (France) The General Confederation of Labour (, CGT) is a national trade union center, founded in 1895 in the city of Limoges. It is the first of the five major French confederations of trade unions. It is the largest in terms of votes (32.1% at the 2002 professional election, 34.0% in the 2008 election), and second largest in terms of membership numbers. Its membership decreased to 650,000 members in 1995–96 (it had more than doubled when François Mitterrand was elected president in 1981), before increasing today 	General Confederation of Labour (France)
2783995	Workers' Force Workers' Force The General Confederation of Labor - Workers' Force (, 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. 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 over that federation. Various sources, including former CIA officials, have suggested that this split was instigated by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and that FO had received funds from the CIA through the American Federation of Labor (AFL)'s 	Workers' Force
2783996	Irving Brown. FO is a member of the European Trade Union Confederation. 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, 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, fought against the backdrop of the developing  Cold War, divided the CGT. The Communist ministers were excluded from the government led by Paul Ramadier, 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". In the 1960s, when André Bergeron became leader of the Confederation, the links between FO and the French Section of the Workers' International (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 hostility to the CGT and to the French Communist Party 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's election, FO presented like the only independent trade-union confederation. In 1989, Marc Blondel 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'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. In 2003, Blondel called for a general strike against the plan of pensions reforms. Then, he let his function to Jean-Claude Mailly. FO participated in the 2006 campaign against the "Contrat première embauche . 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. CIA involvement. The group's ties with the American Central Intelligence Agency (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", Braden wrote of the CGT strike: "Into this crisis stepped [Jay] Lovestone and his assistant, Irving Brown. With funds from Dubinsky's union, 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. 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. Workers' Force The General Confederation of Labor - Workers' Force (, 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. 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 over that federation. Various sources, including former CIA officials, have suggested that this split was instigated