France: The CGT Union Bears the Olympic Flame and Validates Macron’s Social Truce
Former CGT leader Bernard Thibault carried the Olympic flame on Thursday. After promising not to “spoil the party,” the CGT ([)General Confederation of Labour, France’s main trade union) praised its role in organizing the Olympics and confirmed its intention to respond to Macron’s calls for a “political truce” with a social truce.
Source: Revolution permanente
Translation : Alain Marshal
On Thursday, July 25, Bernard Thibault, former leader of the CGT, carried the Olympic flame, symbolizing the so-called “social advancements” allegedly achieved during the Paris Olympics. Supported by the CGT leadership, this action aimed to highlight its involvement in organizing the games, presented as a significant benefit for workers. This move, labeled a “disgrace” by CGT Air Liquide, sparked reactions on social media, criticizing the collaboration between the CGT leadership and the government for the “smooth running” of the games.
This communication aligns with Thibault’s appointment as co-president of the Committee for Monitoring the Social Charter of the 2024 Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games and his position on the board of the Olympic Delivery Authority (SOLIDEO). It echoes statements by the current general secretary of the union, who, last December, endorsed the “social charter” of the Games, asserting: “The CGT will certainly not spoil the party for millions of French people.”
A “Social Charter” to Foster Union-Employer Collaboration
Implemented in 2018 by the Olympic organizing committee “to ensure social peace” and prevent large-scale mobilizations during the games, the “social charter” aims to establish a “social dialogue” between unions and employers. Signed by CFDT, CFTC, CFE-CGC, FO, CGT, and employer organizations like MEDEF, CPME, and U2P, it is co-chaired by former CGT leader Bernard Thibault and active MEDEF executive Dominique Carlac’h.
Since then, Thibault and the CGT leadership have continuously promoted this collaboration on a charter deemed progressive, while assuring that union leaders intend to avoid any social movements during the games. In a video released by the CGT during the flame-bearing event, Boris Plazzi claimed, “We achieved significant progress with this text,” while the confederation tweeted: “Carrying the flame after these advancements becomes a symbol.” Over the past year, Thibault has given numerous interviews reiterating that there is no reason for strikes, recently stating that “no one wishes to disrupt the opening ceremony” (July 18) and “no union seeks ‘sabotage’” (July 22).
Yet, Thibault himself acknowledges that “non-compliance has no legal consequences and the state is not ‘a party to it’.” Similarly, after negotiations were canceled in late 2023 and calls for strikes in the public sector emerged in March, he highlights an “unprecedented” social dialogue, stating: “If we had listened to the unions in a timely manner, we wouldn’t have come to this tragicomedy.”
Accidents and Labor Law Exemptions: “Other than that, everything is fine, Madame la Marquise”
Like the servant in Ray Ventura’s song who tirelessly reassures his mistress by downplaying problems, Bernard Thibault conveys a similar message, minimizing the attacks on workers and the most vulnerable during the games.
Regarding workplace accidents, Thibault, alongside the CGT, claims a “significant reduction,” while acknowledging that any accident is one too many, and views the Paris Olympics as proof that “accident rates” in construction can decrease. The former CGT secretary does not contradict his MEDEF counterpart, who in April boasted a “very satisfactory” record thanks to the social charter: “On the Paris 2024 construction sites, not a single death and only one serious accident. […] We have never had so few accidents on construction sites.” This statement overlooks the death of Amara Dioumassy nine months earlier on the Austerlitz basin site.
The former union leader also proudly states: “So far, our core labor code principles have been preserved, despite some exemptions decided by the government on weekly rest or Sunday work in small businesses…” He refers first to the May 19, 2023 law on the Olympic Games, allowing a waiver of Sunday rest from June 15 to September 30, 2024, not only in the host municipalities but also in neighboring ones. Then, the November 24, 2023 decree permits the “suspension of weekly rest” at the discretion of employers who have already exhausted the possibility of waiving Sunday rest by employing a worker for twelve consecutive days, citing the Games as justification.
The accumulation of these “minor” issues, which could still be added to, tarnishes the very positive social balance presented by Bernard Thibault regarding the Games. In the absence of general mobilization in each sector, social peace was bought with bonuses, amid attacks on the right to strike, as illustrated by the strike call from the CGT artists’ union just days before the ceremony, denouncing Paname24’s disregard for the charter.
Far from Seizing Opportunities, the CGT Leadership Accepts the “Social Truce”
As denounced by railway worker and Révolution Permanente activist Anasse Kazib, these games have been a calamity for the working-class population excluded from the Paris region, with the eviction of students from their CROUS housing, the homeless, the destruction of Aubervilliers’ workers’ gardens, the security lockdown around Olympic sites, 155 house arrests, political repression, the doubling of transport fares in Île-de-France, the unprecedented use of 45,000 unpaid volunteers, and the exposure of workers to lead pollution and lead poisoning.
The CGT has thus helped to restore the Games’ image by fully embracing the “social truce” demanded by Macron. Since his legislative defeat, the President has doubled down with a “political truce” aimed at silencing dissent about the Attal government until the end of the Olympic Games. This truce, of course, is one-sided, granting a reprieve to a minority government that does not limit itself to “current affairs” but continues to govern by decree, for the employers against the workers and to enforce immigration law. Meanwhile, far from encouraging strikes, the confederation has left sectoral initiatives to face media pressure and anti-strike policies from employers and the government alone, even as workers in some sectors, like the SNCF, demonstrated their militancy and ability to achieve social gains during this period.
