The trade unionist who wanted dialogue with Macron is now dreaming of the Elysée

“One could imagine, for example, that when this excited moment ends and the issue of pension reform is resolved, Laurent Berger will decide to embark on the adventure of a presidential campaign”. On March 23 last, in the Monde, Michel Wieviorka, a French intellectual and sociologist of progressive obedience, expressed himself with these words, pointing out that street protests against raising the retirement age to 64 had produced a potential leftist political leader, Laurent Berger, boss of the CFDT, the French democratic confederation of labour. Wieviorka’s words are acquiring even more interest today in the light of Berger’s sudden resignation from the leadership of the reformist union and the insistent rumors about the political ambitions of this trade unionist, originally from the Loire-Atlantique, who made the CFDT the first French trade union organization by number of members, overtaking the historic rivals of the CGT, the CGIL beyond the Alps. “I think that on June 21 I will leave a CFDT in good condition,” Berger told Monde, who will most likely be replaced by his deputy, Marylise Léon. “We’ve been working together for five years, she’s tough and humanly extraordinary,” the outgoing leader of the CFDT said of her. Urged by the press, Berger said he has no intention of getting into politicsthat those who see him as a candidate in the next presidential elections are off track, and that he left the union mainly for two reasons: it had been there for too long, since 2012, and we need to leave room for women. Of course, few believe his version. Because in recent months Berger has not only been the leader of the inter-union against the pension reform, he has also assumed the role of leader of anti-macronism, engaging in a real tug of war with the tenant of the Elysée.