Federation syndicale unitaire
| Federation Syndicale Unitaire (FSU) |
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| purpose | labor union |
| Chair: | Gerard Aschieri |
| Establishment date: | 1993 |
| Number of members: | 163,000 |
| Seat : | 104, rue Romain Rolland, 93260 Les Lilas |
| Website: | http://www.fsu.fr |
The Fédération Syndicale Unitaire, or FSU for short , is the largest French union in the field of education and the public service. It became the Fédération de l'Education Nationale (FEN) in 1993 after the split of the previous unified education union and represents the left wing of the former FEN. She was involved in the founding of the globalization-critical organization Attac in France and plays a leading role in the various social movements in France, especially in the public sector.
Origins and establishment of the FSU
The Fédération de l'Education Nationale was founded in 1947, when the force ouvrière , which was more socialist at the time , left the Confédération Générale du Travail , a trade union federation that was under communist influence . The CGT education union, FEN, was supposed to choose which union it wanted to join. After long debates, she opted for independence and the formation of parliamentary groups that should correspond to the various political currents. Power in the trade union as a whole and in the sub-organizations was distributed within the FEN after regular elections so that the wings could still live together under the same roof. However, both the CGT and the FO founded their own education unions, but they lagged far behind the FEN.
The FEN was dominated from the beginning by the socialist group UID (Unité Indépendance Démocratie), but without control of many individual trade unions. In the lecturers 'union SNESup and the high school teachers' union SNES, the communist UA (Unité et Action) were clearly in the lead, and the third largest faction EE (Ecole Emancipée, often described as radical left) also had strongholds.
But in the 80s there were growing tensions between UID and the other political groups. The union leadership close to the UID planned a merger of the SNES with the predominantly dominated elementary school teachers union SNI, as well as a reform of the parliamentary group regulations. The conflict escalated, and after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the fall of the Parti communiste français , UA largely stylized itself as a viable alternative to the increasingly authoritarian UID, which ultimately led to a rupture. In 1991 the UA, EE and the other minor currents formed a union, in 1992 the leadership reacted by expelling two UA-dominated sub-unions including the SNES, and forcing the establishment of the unified "Union of Educators" (SE, Syndicat des Enseignants, later UNSA -Education ). Then the UA, EE, their allies and the sub-unions and local associations they dominated left the FEN and founded the FSU (Fédération Syndicale Unitaire).
The following December, the FSU, which was still subject to provisional statutes, surprisingly took first place in the elections among the teaching staff. She has kept this place to this day.
organization
There are three organizational levels in the FSU: the geographical associations (by department), the sub-unions and the political or ideological factions, the so-called tendencies. The distribution of seats in the committees is meant to prevent a tendency from having an absolute majority in any committee. So all unions and associations are governed by a coalition of UA and EE, sometimes with PRSI. This organization is supposed to make the concentration of power of a tendency like UID in the FEN impossible. A similar system also exists for the pluralistic regulation of relations between the sub-unions. The union's executive committee is called Conseil Délibératif Fédéral National (CFDN) and has 162 delegates. Between its meetings, it is represented by a Bureau Délibératif Fédéral National (BFDN, 54 members). Executive power is left to a 13-member secretariat, including 11 delegates from the branch unions. The head of the union is the general secretary. Between 1993 and 1999 it was Michel Deschamps, from 1999 to 2001 there was a dual leadership, and since 2001 the SNES unionist and UA member Gérard Aschieri has been general secretary.
Social movements and civil society
The FSU is of course deeply involved in the struggles in the education sector, for example against Education Minister Claude Allègre 1999-2000, against the pension reform in the public service in 2003 or against the controversial university reforms by Valérie Pécresse from 2007. But the reunification of the French trade unions is based on a pluralistic model officially under their goals, and the FSU is committed to an open understanding of trade union action, including towards civil society. For example, she supported the youth movements against the relaxation of dismissal protection for younger workers in 1994 and 2006, and she was involved in the founding of the globalization-critical organization Attac: The SNES, the SNU-Ipp and the SNESup have representatives in Attac's committees, and numerous FSU Trade unionists are also Attac members. The FSU also has a research center on history, economics and social issues.
Sub-unions and trends
Sub-unions
The founding unions are:
- Syndicat National des Enseignants du Secondaire (SNES), active at the Collèges and Lycées .
- Syndicat National de l'Education Physique (SNEP), counterpart of the SNES for physical education teachers.
- Syndicat National de l'Enseignement Supérieur (SNESup), lecturers and university professors.
- Syndicats National des Chercheurs Scientifiques (SNCS), researchers and scientists.
The other unions of education are:
- Syndicat National Unitaire des Instituteurs, des Professeurs des Ecoles et Professeurs d'Enseignement Général (SNU-Ipp): primary school teacher.
- Syndicat national de l'enseignement technique agricole public (SNETAP): Agricultural high schools.
- Syndicat National Unitaire de l'Enseignement Professionnel (SNUEP): vocational schools.
- Syndicat National Unitaire des Personnels de Direction de l'Education Nationale (SNUPDEN): Schoolmaster.
- Union nationale des agents, technique, ouvriers et de services (UNATOS): administrative and service staff.
- Syndicat national des infirmier (e) s et conseiller (e) s de santé (SNICS): nurse and doctors in schools.
- Syndicat national de l'administration scolaire et universitaire et des bibliothèques (SNASUB): library staff.
- Syndicat national des personnels d'inspection (de l'Éducation nationale) (SNPI): internal inspection service of the Ministry of Education.
There are also other small unions outside of the education sector. The largest of these is the SNAC (Syndicat National des Affaires Culturelles) in the Ministry of Culture.
A founding union, the SNETAA (vocational schools) left the FSU in 2001. It was replaced by the SNUEP.
Tendencies
The result of the last congress (Marseille, 2007) is given in brackets
- Unité et Action, which advocates an action alliance with the CGT (73%)
- Ecole Emancipée (15.6%)
- The various small groups, mostly from the Ecole Emancipée: Emancipation (4.5%), Front Unique (2.1%), Pour la Reconquête d'un Syndicalisme Indépendant-PRSI ( Trotskyists ) (4.5%).