Between continuity of leadership and renewal challenges. Force Ouvrière (FO) opens the union congress season this Monday, April 20, until Friday, before the CGT (from 1is to June 5), the CFE-CGC (June 10 and 11) and the CFDT (June 22 to 26). In Dijon (Côte-d’Or), nearly 3,900 delegates from FO, the third largest trade union center in France, met to debate the ambitions of general secretary Frédéric Souillot, elected in 2022 and the only candidate for re-election for 2026-2030. The presence of Cécile Kohler and Jacques Paris, FO activists recently released after four years of detention in Iran, will give a special dimension to this meeting.
Whatever the content of the exchanges, the activists will be keen to mobilize their troops and refine their strategies one year before the presidential election. Because this deadline dominates the concerns of the entire union landscape, especially since few uncertainties surround the management: Sophie Binet and Marylise Léon should be reappointed at the head of the CGT and the CFDT and Christelle Thieffinne is the only one in the running to succeed François Hommeril at the CFE-CGC.
10.3% of unionized employees
The challenge will be to “weigh in the public debate, to be a bit of a purveyor of ideas, to defend a certain number of issues and values (labor law, protection of employees, defense of the minimum wage)”, explains sociologist Sophie Béroud, specialist in trade unionism. According to her, these congresses are of particular importance: “It serves to give a little conviction and reassurance to unionists who are sometimes tested. » With only 10.3% of unionized employees, France has one of the lowest rates in the OECD, far behind Belgium (51.1%), Italy (30.6%) and Germany (15.1%).
However, as Frédéric Rey, professor at Cnam and labor sociologist, recalls, “the audience of trade union organizations far exceeds this 10%”. In France, “we do not have a culture of membership, but we have a culture of collective mobilization”, so “when it comes to protesting against reforms which are considered socially unjust or problematic, the unions have capacities that we will not find in other countries, which nevertheless have much higher membership rates”, he recalls.
Inject new blood
“Trade unionism has been under attack for a long time, even more so under the five-year term of Emmanuel Macron, with the forceful passage on a whole series of issues, starting with the pension reform in 2023,” believes Sophie Béroud. This emblematic and hotly contested reform was suspended by Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornuunder pressure from the unions and the left which threatened censorship.
Weakened in recent years, trade union organizations are aware that their future depends on their capacity to renew themselves, and therefore to attract young people. According to the Ministry of Labor, the unionization rate in 2019 stood at only 2.7% among those under 30. The political science researcher Dominique Andolfatto formulates the hypothesis of a “relatively comparable” situation in the different French unions: “A very narrow age pyramid at the base, which widens from the age of 30 and even more from the age of 40.”
Despite professional mobility which slows down their commitment and their access to responsibilities, young people do not have a negative view of unions. According to an OpinionWay survey carried out in 2025, 76% of 18-35 year olds even believe that they are necessary in all companies.
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