Marylise Léon took the lead of the CFDT. At 46, she succeeds Laurent Berger on Wednesday, June 21, during a day of debates and speeches at the Zenith of Paris, which is also an opportunity for the first French union to celebrate its good "form" and express its "pride".

Marylise Léon, who was the union's number two, announced to the press at midday that she had been unanimously elected to the union's national office.

"I have a lot of chances to take over from Laurent because the house is doing very well, it is coherent, there is a lot of internal solidarity. I know workers are counting on the CFDT," she said. "We are in a period where there is still a lot of worry and anger, and we have to find ways to continue to express this anger and find positive outcomes," she added.

Proud and honoured to have been unanimously elected Secretary General of the @cfdt by our National Office. Thank you @CfdtBerger for these 11 years of commitment by your side, thank you to all the activists. pic.twitter.com/MOuN4ZZ44G

— Marylise Léon (@MaryliseLeon) June 21, 2023

The afternoon will be devoted to the challenges of union development, before a double conclusion by Marylise Léon, then Laurent Berger.

A CFDT "not perfect", but "in shape"

In his opening speech, Laurent Berger, who became secretary general in November 2012, said he was "proud of what we have built during these 11 years of campaigning together". The CFDT is "not perfect but it is in shape. Together we became the first trade union organization! (in 2018, editor's note) We assume leadership in the trade union world," he told some 2,700 activists.

Laurent Berger evoked the "46,000" members who have joined the CFDT since January (for 612,000 members at the end of 2022), thanks to a social conflict against the pension reform that has breathed new life into trade unionism.

The one who may have appeared as the first opponent of Emmanuel Macron defended in his speech the "line" of the CFDT, consisting of "seeking compromise" without "lowering their heads when they try to step on us".

"The debate on pensions was no exception," he said, scratching the President of the Republic without naming him: "To discredit our action, some have tried to make us a trial for irresponsibility. So I repeat it here for the last time: this is a false trial."

Marylise Léon is the second woman to head the Confederation, after Nicole Notat, who led it from 1992 to 2002. Since 2018, she has been Laurent Berger's number two, in charge of strategic issues such as unemployment insurance and inter-union relations. A position succeeded by Yvan Ricordeau.

On the line, she embodies a form of continuity compared to Laurent Berger, who says he has agreed with her for at least a year and a half to hand over the baton to her in June 2023, even if he only made the official and public announcement on April 19.

Moving "from an inter-union of contestation to an inter-union of proposals"

"She's ready. It has had time to compose its teams which are partly the same (...) He is a good person, who has character, who will not let himself be eaten every morning," he told AFP.

The two leaders were received Friday at Matignon by Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne, the opportunity to "make contact" according to Marylise Léon.

The contrast is striking with the tumultuous succession of Philippe Martinez, at the 53rd Congress of the CGT in March: the one he had chosen to take over, Marie Buisson, had to face the candidacy of Céline Verzeletti, and finally had to fade in front of Sophie Binet, appeared as a candidacy of rallying.

If Marylise Léon takes the reins of a CFDT in working order, she will be challenged on a personal level to make her mark following Laurent Berger, and facing the charismatic new secretary general of the CGT, Sophie Binet.

Representative of the CFDT within the inter-union that led the battle against the pension reform, Marylise Léon will undoubtedly be keen that her central takes back more autonomy, this page being essentially turned. "We have set ourselves a number of working themes. The question today is (...) how we go from an inter-union of protest to an inter-union of proposals," she said Wednesday.

With AFP

The summary of the weekFrance 24 invites you to look back on the news that marked the week

I subscribe

Take international news with you everywhere! Download the France 24 app