Jean-Luc Boujon, edited by Yanis Darras 08:50, March 31, 2023, modified at 08:51, March 31, 2023

This Friday, Philippe Martinez will leave the head of the CGT, after eight years at the helm of the union organization. If Marie Buisson is approached to take over, the latter is sometimes considered too moderate by some branches of the union. So, more radical candidates remain in ambush.

Who will be the next number one of the CGT? This Friday morning at 10 am, the union will announce the name chosen to replace Philippe Martinez after eight years in office. The future ex-leader of the union still dubbed a candidate: Marie Buisson. His election was to be only a formality, but it was before the beginning of the congress organized since Monday in Clermont-Ferrand, where now, two lines oppose.

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Teacher in vocational high school, and candidate of Philippe Martinez, Marie Buisson embodies the new values of the CGT, say her supporters. "For us, there are no social struggles without environmental struggles. That's what she also wears and I'm in line with that," Samira Saïdoun, delegate in Isère, told Europe 1. "And then we also need to make more room for women within the CGT. A female candidacy after 127 years, it seems relevant to me, "she continues.

A radical ticket available?

The problem is that the big federations of the CGT, such as energy or chemistry, do not want Marie Buisson, considered too moderate by some. "Today, we see that the CGT has become the second largest trade union organization in France and that it is losing ground, including in terms of the number of union members. And it has shown a weakness, especially in the face of the inter-union which in fact is a sounding board for the CFDT and Laurent Berger alone. I think we have to go back to a fighting CGT, like what is happening in the country today," said Emmanuel Lépine of the Federation of Chemical Industries.

So, facing Marie Buisson, there could be a radical ticket between a woman, Céline Verzeletti and Olivier Mateu, the fiery Marseille cegetist, the one who had declared that he wanted to bring the economy of France to its knees.