How many members does the union have?
"We declare 500,000, the most pessimistic estimates say 300,000. So we are between the two, and all in all it is already not bad", declared Yves Veyrier at the podium of the XXVth Congress of FO, in the agglomeration of Rouen .
“Dear comrades, I alert you anyway,” he continued.
"We are at approximately 350,000 cards placed (given to members, editor's note) in past years. We had a slight drop in 2018, and above all a decline in 2020 under the effect of the pandemic. We are going back well in 2021 since we are rather at this time around 380,000 cards placed", he added, specifying that this figure is lower than the number of real members.
"It's far from enough!", he launched to the delegates.
The year 2018 was marked by a crisis at the head of FO, with the stormy departure of Jean-Claude Mailly, then that six months later of Pascal Pavageau.
In 2018, the union had fallen slightly in the public sector (-0.5 point to 18.1%), and in 2021, it remained almost stable in the private sector (-0.36 point to 15.24%) .
In Le Monde on Sunday, Yves Veyrier said that FO was not "intended to stay on the bottom step of the podium".
He called on Thursday activists to turn to "all employees away" from stable employment.
Executives are also a "major issue", and FO must "manage to expand (its) presence in the world of culture, entertainment, intermittent workers", where the confederation "is not up to this that (she) should be".
The leader announced in February that he would not run for a new term.
He will give way on Friday to Frédéric Souillot, now the only candidate for his succession, after the withdrawal of Christian Grolier on Wednesday.
In a speech of almost two hours, he defended his action at the head of the union and again called on his comrades to unity and "respect".
"The door is double-leaf, but no one wants anyone to take it in the direction of the exit," he said.
© 2022 AFP