Paris (AFP)
Taken aback by the "yellow vests", the unions did not find their place and remained divided. A year later, their strategy has not moved and parallel movements appear.
This is the "first time the unions have remained outside a movement carrying important social demands," said political scientist Jean-Marie Pernot, a researcher at the Institute of Economic and Social Research (Ires).
In the beginning, there was a "stunned" effect for the power stations in the face of this heterogeneous movement, which, moreover, did not want them. There has also been a reluctance, with a risk of recovery of the far right and anti-tax discourse, a red line for all unions.
But the diagnosis quickly arrived, summarized by Philippe Martinez, the general secretary of the CGT. "The first lesson to be learned from this movement of yellow vests is that they reflect all the union deserts of the CGT: small and medium-sized enterprises, retired, precarious, deprived of jobs and a lot of women, "he admitted in May.
However, the responses provided by the unions have not been adequate, provide experts interviewed by AFP.
The CFDT launches mid-April a "pact of power to live", with the CFTC, the Unsa, associations and former minister Nicolas Hulot. But not the CGT, who complains. Neither FO nor Solidarity.
"Workers need unity of trade unions, not their quarrels, otherwise they lose interest," says Jean-Marie Pernot, regretting that they "rather highlight what makes them stand out, with statements like: + we are not at the CFDT +, + we are not at the CGT + ..., that the points that unite them ".
"Never have the French, and we have seen it with the + yellow vests, have been so critical of the capitalism of the big bosses and eager for revolutionary changes," says Jean-François Amadieu, professor of social sciences. This movement was "blessed bread for the unions, they could have engaged as in 68 with the student movement," he notes, had it not been for their division.
- "Business as usual" -
Convergence traditionally exists around Republican topics such as racism, anti-Semitism or terrorism, but rarely around social issues such as wages, retirement or unemployment insurance.
And one year after the first mobilization of the "yellow vests", "it is business as usual" for the unions, each one of its side, according to Mr. Pernot. "The CGT and FO call to go down the street and the fact that there is no one does not seem to be a problem.The CFDT launches a + living power pact +, which is more a that a strategy, with Berger who says + please, listen to us! "
For Guy Groux, a researcher at the Center for Political Research Sciences Po (Cevipof), this movement has caused "two wrongs" to unions.
On the one hand he has shown "more efficiency" in snatching Emmanuel Macron, in a few weeks, measures of "emergency", including a decline in the CSG for retirees, a request in vain by the unions During months.
The last time they won the case was in 2006, with the repeal of the first hiring contract. Since then, there have been massive but futile mobilisations against pension reforms in 2010, labor laws (2016 and 2017) and SNCF (2018) ...
On the other hand, the "yellow vests" were "a reflection of the total mistrust of the French with regard to the institutions, including the unions". There is a demand "for more proximity and democracy to which the unions, with heavy machinery, have great difficulty adapting," said Mr. Groux.
In recent years, the Cevipof barometer shows this lack of confidence of the French towards unions (but also journalists and politicians). Two complaints in particular are heard: they are "too politicized" and they do not succeed.
This distrust, Mr. Groux also notes in the company "with more and more autonomous groups of employees", such as the movement of emergencies or that of "red pens" teachers.
© 2019 AFP