The Charter of Amiens () was adopted at the 9th Congress of the Confédération générale du travail (CGT) French trade-union, which took place in Amiens in October 1906. Its main proposal was the separation between the union movement and the political parties. The CGT was then dominated by anarcho-syndicalists who preferred the constitution of an alternate system through the elaboration of workers' union rather than moderate reforms through the electoral path. The motion for the Charter was drafted by Victor Griffuelhes, general secretary of the CGT, and Émile Pouget. The Charter was adopted by 830 participants, 8 having voted "no" and 1 abstained, and marked the victory of the current of revolutionary syndicalism in the CGT of the time. The Charter of Amiens assigned two aims to the workers' movement: the "defense of immediate and daily demands" and the "struggle for a global transformation of society in complete independence from political parties and from the state." By this Charter, the CGT explicitly recognized class struggle. Immediate goals included reduction of worktime (the 8 hours day) and increase of wages. But the longer term goal was nothingless than "expropriation of the capitalists" through the means of a general strike. It considered the trade-union to be the future group of production and of social repartition and the basis for a social reorganization — a main view of the syndicalism movement.
The Charter of Amiens () was adopted at the 9th Congress of the Confédération générale du travail (CGT) French trade-union, which took place in Amiens in October 1906. Its main proposal was the separation between the union movement and the political parties. The CGT was then dominated by anarcho-syndicalists who preferred the constitution of an alternate system through the elaboration of workers' unions rather than moderate reforms through the electoral path. The motion for the Charter was drafted by Victor Griffuelhes, general secretary of the CGT, and Émile Pouget. The Charter was adopted by 830 participants, eight having voted "no" and one abstained, and marked the victory of the current of revolutionary syndicalism in the CGT of the time. The Charter of Amiens assigned two aims to the workers' movement: the "defense of immediate and daily demands" and the "struggle for a global transformation of society in complete independence from political parties and from the state." By this Charter, the CGT explicitly recognized class struggle. Immediate goals included reduction of worktime (the 8 hours day) and increase of wages. But the longer-term goal was nothingless than "expropriation of the capitalists" through the means of a general strike. It considered the trade-union to be the future group of production and of social repartition and the basis for a social reorganization — a main view of the syndicalism movement.
R
union
unions
R
8
eight
R
1
one
R
longer term
longer-term