Sophie Binet is the new general secretary of the CGT. The trade unionist is the first woman but also one of the rare executives to take the head of the federation, this Friday, March 31. Who is she ?
She created a surprise at the CGT congress. Sophie Binet takes over from Philippe Martinez and is elected new general secretary of the union, this Friday, March 31, 2023. The trade unionist did not seem on the right track to take the head of the CGT but it was her profile that made consensus against to Céline Verzeletti and Marie Buisson.
At 41, Sophie Binet is no stranger to the CGT. A senior education advisor by profession, she was until now the general secretary of the Union of Engineers, Executives and Technicians of the CGT (Ugict). The appointment of Sophie Binet at the head of the CGT will be announced to some 950 delegates of the federation.
Sophie Binet, first boss of the CGT
In 128 years of existence, the CGT has never been led by a female voice until Friday, March 31 and the appointment of Sophie Binet as head of the union. The 53rd congress of the CGT was for sure to name a woman as successor to Philippe Martinez, but it was two other names that were in the lead: Marie Buisson supported by the former boss of the CGT, Philippe Martinez, and Céline Verzeletti from a more radical branch of the union. But neither one nor the other had favor with the majority of the members of the National Confederal Committee (CCN). The first missed the post by two votes and the second suffered from the rejection of the supporters of Marie Buisson and Philippe Martinez. It is therefore the third way, that represented by the executive Sophie Binet who won.
A framework expected at the turn by the CGT
Sophie Binet clashes a little in the list of general secretaries of the CGT. The 40-year-old from a management training and at the head of the Ugict-CGT branch is far from the worker profile that traditionally accompanies the boss of the union. This image of CSP+ could breathe new life into the CGT and Sophie Binet is eagerly awaited on the line she will give to the federation.
The new general secretary will have to gather the different federations around her, but the task will not be easy in view of the dissent that exists within the CGT. We will however have to act quickly, because the first decision of Sophie Binet is expected at the beginning of the week: the general secretary must decide on the invitation of Elisabeth Borne who proposed to receive the inter-union, leader of the fight against the reform retirements. It is also more broadly on this bill that Sophie Binet will have to define her position.