For several months, he did not hide it. Laurent Berger did not intend to finish his fourth term at the head of the CFDT, a mandate that the activists had granted him in June 2022 during the Lyon congress. But he took the social actors by surprise by announcing this Wednesday in The world that he would hand over on June 21 to Marylise Léon, the number 2 of the organization. A schedule that may surprise as the pension conflict ends in a virtual union defeat after the decision of the Constitutional Council, but which is basically nothing surprising in the history and positioning of the CFDT. A calendar, moreover, carefully chosen since it allows him to steal the show from Emmanuel Macron while the latter tries to regain control of the social by making a trip to Alsace on the theme of employment.
In recent weeks, Laurent Berger has hardly tasted the role in which Emmanuel Macron has locked him. Admittedly, he was quite willing to appear as the number one opponent of raising the legal retirement age to 64 and extending the duration of contributions, especially since at the CGT Philippe Martinez was on the start. But he didn’t like the over-personalization of the battle. Twice, during his televised appearance on March 22, then on April 6 during his trip to China, the President of the Republic launched direct attacks against him. And forced Laurent Berger to knock in turn. “Denial”, “lie” he tweeted for the first time, before dropping on BFMTV: “I call for calm. I call for keeping your nerves. I call on the President of the Republic not to swing small sentences […] otherwise he will end up alienating all the trade unions”. And the words of Emmanuel Macron, this April 19, at the announcement of the departure of Laurent Berger – “He is someone for whom I have respect, dare I say friendship” – sound like a cruel mismatch.
If he never minced his words when projects did not please him, Laurent Berger has always avoided personal attacks. For him, but especially for the CFDT which claims its sense of responsibility and its ability to move forward through dialogue, there was an urgent need to get out of this one-on-one with Emmanuel Macron, a president with whom relations never been very good. Le Marcheur has never made a secret of his lack of interest in intermediary bodies and his wish not to associate them too much with the development of social policies. A position that can only displease the CFDT, which has made social dialogue the central point of its action. And even if Laurent Berger says he loves to parade and that the unions come out “winners” from this period, he knows full well that it will take time for them to digest what remains a defeat and convince employees of their future usefulness.
By now propelling Marylise Léon to the head of the CFDT, he hopes to open a new period relieved of personal friction and more peaceful between the executive and the CFDT. During his last televised address on April 17, the Head of State guarded against new attacks and seemed to initiate the reopening of dialogue. Incidentally, the choice of the date of June 21 for the formal dubbing of Marylise Léon obliges the government to respect the “period of decency” repeatedly demanded by Laurent Berger before the resumption of social discussions. If there may be, between now and the passing of the torch, a few symbolic gestures or meetings, nothing will really happen until Marylise Léon has officially taken office.
A precise schedule, a thoughtful profile
This is not the first time that the CFDT has changed leaders in a pivotal moment, but gently, to breathe new life. In November 2012, Laurent Berger succeeded François Chérèque at Mutualité. A transition that takes place just a few months after the election of François Hollande at the Elysée. Therefore, forgotten the Sarkozy years when the CGT was erected as a “privileged interlocutor” and the pension reform of 2003 which led the CFDT into a deep crisis. Make way for very, very close relations with the new socialist power. In the early years, with its relays within the PS, the CFDT will largely imprint its mark on the projects. At the time, we joked about “the Ministry of Labor bis”, located at boulevard de la Villette in Paris, headquarters of the CFDT.
If it is unlikely that Marylise Léon will enter into a relationship of this kind with the executive in place, she will at least be able to begin a new cycle in better conditions and reflect on the union’s strategy for post-2027. Because the other advantage of handing over during the term of office – especially this time when it comes very early – is to allow the newcomer to settle in, to make the first changes before the next congress which will take place in 2026, just before the next presidential election. Even if the prospect is far from unknown in the instances since she has been number 2 since 2018, she will need time to make her mark as a leader.
Finally, by choosing Marylise Léon to succeed him, Laurent Berger promotes a profile that has the advantage of modernity. Admittedly, this will not be the first time that a woman has led the confederation – Nicole Notat did so in the 1990s – but with Sophie Binet, who has just been elected general secretary of the CGT, the CFDT sticks to its eternal rival in terms of rejuvenation and feminization. For Marylise Léon, the task promises to be difficult. He will have to consolidate the place of first union taken at the CGT during the mandate of Laurent Berger and try to find a way with the executive. But unlike Sophie Binet, she will have less to scrap internally, the organization being in working order even if the congress last June revealed some dissatisfaction.
Laurent Berger will be keen to help him. At least by his discretion. He keeps repeating it, he has no intention of being a presidential candidate. Neither in 2027 nor in 2032. Some on the left would dream of it. They forget that the former general secretaries of the CFDT always took care not to intervene directly in the political field. Several times asked to be a minister, Nicole Notat has always declined. And when François Chérèque took over the presidency of the Civic Service Agency, a function that was nevertheless very little political, teeth had cringed internally, discouraging others from following this path. Laurent Berger says he has no project for the moment, but there is no doubt that he will find in the associative and militant world something to make his little social music heard. Not political in the strict sense of the term, but… terribly political all the same.