This affair of “filing FO executives” caused a stir in 2018. Two other former union leaders are appearing today alongside Pascal Pavageau, who resigned in October 2018, a few months after his election as secretary general of the union.
“Scum”, “homo”, “mafia”, “completely crazy”, or “too intelligent to enter the federal office”… The affair broke out in The chained Duck in October 2018: the weekly published in its columns an internal Force Ouvrière document, full of insulting comments about union executives, or remarks about their sexual orientation.
>> FO executives recorded in internal documents, according to “Le Canard chainé”
So many adjectives, attached to the names of 127 FO officials, which cost the then barely elected secretary general his place. Five years later, Pascal Pavageau and two other former union leaders appear before the Paris criminal court on Wednesday September 13.
No individual complaints filed
After initially shouting about an internal conspiracy, the former general secretary of the union finally admitted his wrongs, a year later on franceinfo.
“It’s an absolute mistake, I hurt people. I damaged the image of an organization for which for 28 years, to commit to trying to restore the image. So it’s a nameless bullshit, excuse me for being trivial.”
Pascal Pavageau, former general secretary of the unionat franceinfo
Since then, no one within FO has wanted to discuss the matter publicly. No individual complaints have been filed against former leaders, not even by those whose names appeared in the file. “It’s far away in time, but not in emotion”, anonymously summarizes an executive of the organization. For this anonymous trade unionist“the affair is not a taboo within the current management”, Who “just wait until things are sold out”.
However, with hindsight, he believes that the organization “reacted well”, And “that it has since been able to put in place more collective procedures”. “Basicallyhe concludes, We ultimately emerged more than strengthened.”