In the French pension dispute, a woman has become a union leader for the first time

In the middle of the power struggle over pension reform in France, a woman, Sophie Binet, takes over for the first time at the helm of the powerful trade union CGT. The CGT surprisingly appointed the 41-year-old as successor to Philippe Martinez on Friday.

The radical and moderate wings of the CGT had failed to agree on a leader of both camps at the Clermont-Ferrand trade union congress.

Binet is considered a reformer and faces a double test. In addition to the unity of the CGT, she will have to seek solidarity with the other trade unions in a meeting with Prime Minister Élisabeth Borne on pension reform on Wednesday. After her election, Binet emphasized that the unions would go to the meeting with Borne together and as one. Due to the strikes, the unions are on the rise.

“We will not give in,” Binet said in her inaugural address. “What unites us at CBT is that we don’t back down. We will not back down in our fight against oppression, against criminalization, against attacks on trade union freedoms and the right to strike, and against compulsory labour.” Binet announced that he would continue to take to the streets against the pension reform. “We will not resume work until the reform is withdrawn.”

In the fight against the reform, which raises the retirement age from 62 to 64, the unions in France came together for the first time in years. Over the course of many weeks, they repeatedly brought hundreds of thousands of people to the streets for prolonged peaceful protests and called for strikes. Binet’s predecessor Martinez (61) became a mouthpiece and a face of protest. (oee/sda/awp/dpa)