Tribune against the choice of Muriel Pénicaud at the head of the ILO

"Leading the ILO obviously requires scrupulous respect for international labor standards and a proven commitment to social justice", remind the signatories, who believe that "the question arises" of "whether Ms. Pénicaud fulfills these conditions" .

His ministry, from May 2017 to July 2020, "was marked by reforms which all aimed to weaken the rights and individual and collective freedoms of workers", they underline, citing among other things "such a brutal reform unemployment compensation conditions that it had to be postponed to deal with the health crisis "or the establishment of a compensation scale for victims of illegal dismissals.

"A number of these reforms have given rise to the referral to the supervisory bodies of the ILO for breach of six international labor conventions ratified by France", they recall, which means that Ms. Pénicaud could lead "an organization who is investigating the international legality of the provisions she promoted in her previous functions ".

They also recall that while she was director of human resources for the Danone group, Ms. Pénicaud "realized in 2013 more than one million euros of capital gain on her stock options, taking advantage of the announcement of the elimination of 233 positions in his company ", and wonder if this is what" we are entitled to expect at the head of an organization whose mission is to ensure the primacy of human and social aspects on financial considerations ".

Among the signatories are the president of the CFE-CGC, François Hommeril, the former secretary general of the CGT Bernard Thibault, the former president of the National Consultative Commission on Human Rights Christine Lazerges, but also academics such as the economist Michel Aglietta or sociologist Dominique Méda, artists like the writer Gérard Mordillat or the actress Corinne Masiéro.

Ms Pénicaud declared herself a candidate for the leadership of the ILO on September 30, to take over from Britain's Guy Rider in October 2022. She will face three other candidates in the election in March.

© 2021 AFP