Even if the mentalities and the rules on parity have evolved in recent years, taking on union responsibilities when you are a woman is almost an impossible mission. And those who make this choice must reconcile a triple schedule.
The photo is heavy with symbols. On January 10, the leaders of the main French unions meet at the labor exchange in Paris to launch the mobilization against the pension reform. On the picture that immortalizes their union, eight men and one woman, Murielle Guilbert, general co-delegate of the Solidaires union. Gathered as an inter-union, it is they – and therefore she – who are calling, Wednesday, March 8, to seize the international day of struggle for women’s rights, to “to make visible the particularly serious consequences of this project [de réforme des retraites] for them”.
“Of course, seeing the image, we said to ourselves that it was time for that to change”, recognizes Catherine Perret, number two of the CGT. The change could happen as early as the end of March with the union congress. For the first time, a woman, Marie Buisson, is proposed to succeed Philippe Martinez as Secretary General. The name of Céline Verzeletti is also mentioned, according to the newspaper Opinion.
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At the head of the prison CGT for 12 years (2000-2012), Céline Verzeletti is now confederal secretary and referent for gender equality. “Being a female general secretary in a sector like that was not easy, but it happened”, she summarizes soberly. Often “surrounded by men”in an environment where “the reports are quite rough”, she had to “to impose” to make room. “You have to constantly prove that you can assume your responsibilities, and that you will be as efficient as a man, or even more”, remembers Céline Verzeletti.
“I was asked: ‘Are you sure you can handle it?’ You didn’t make those comments to the men next to me.”
Céline Verzeletti, CGT confederal secretaryfranceinfo
“There were also those who said to me: ‘Don’t worry, you are a woman, but we will protect you’. It was also a form of paternalism, she notes. Comrades were much more demanding of women.”
Even in more mixed settings, the legitimacy of women can be challenged when they take on responsibilities. Nathalie Masson started as an elected member of the CFE-CGC, the executives’ union, in her bank. She quickly became a union delegate for the entire group, then deputy general secretary of the National Banking Union. “Some pushed my candidacy, but others suggested that I had moved a little quickly. You could say to me: ‘You know, it takes a real investment, are you sure you can do it?'” But she assures us, for several years, “there has really been an evolution on the subject”.
Feminization “from above and from below”
If the headliners remain for the moment very masculine, women have been more and more present within trade union organizations in recent years. “There is a real feminization within the unions”confirms Cécile Guillaume, a sociologist specializing in the place of women in trade unionism. “It was done from the top because of the establishment of parity in the governing bodies, for example in the executive committee of the CGT or the CFDT.”
A statement shared by Celine Verzeletti. “When there is a mix, it becomes natural to work together, and there is a lot less sexist behavior and remarks”, assures the cegetist.
Feminization has also taken place “from the bottom”, according to Cecile Guillaume. Since the introduction of the Rebsamen law in 2015, the number of women and men elected to a CSE (social and economic committee) is proportional to their respective share among the employees of a company. While discrimination has obviously not disappeared from trade unions, “they have really shrunk”notes the sociologist, researcher at the University of Surrey (United Kingdom).
“Now the unions need to recruit women. So they will seek to bring them up.”
Cécile Guillaume, sociologist specializing in the place of women in trade unionismat franceinfo
Only hole in the racket: the intermediate mandates are not affected by the laws on parity. And so are “still mostly occupied by men”.
Organize the “triple day”
However, women engaged in trade unionism can also be victims of sexist behavior on the part of company management. Alexandra* was elected shop steward less than three months ago. “My predecessor was a man, he had a carrying voice, he shouted in meetings, he raised his voice”says the psychologist. “When the management saw me coming, I felt that, from the start, they weren’t taking me seriously.”
Added to this pressure is the frenetic pace of a “triple day” where it is necessary to manage to reconcile work, union commitment and family life, household chores still being unequally distributed between women and men.
A worker in a valve production factory in Meurthe-et-Moselle, Marion has set up a well-rehearsed organization to carry out night work at the factory, union duties and her role as a mother. “I set aside one day in the week, Thursday, to do all the household chores. I also do my menus for the whole week.”
Between cooking, which takes her up to an hour a day, and domestic chores, eight hours of her week are spent working at home, not counting the education of her two children. “For the CSE, I check my emails at least once a day while my husband is at work and my children at school”, continues the mother of the family. To ensure her mandate at the CFDT, she benefits from 22 hours of delegation per month. “You have to be super organized. If you don’t have a union vocation, it’s not worth it.”
“Convictions pegged to the body”
Professions where working conditions are very degraded, and which are also very feminized (home helpers, caregivers or public hospital nurses) are emblematic of this phenomenon.according to Cécile Guillaume. “These are sectors where there is a lack of staff, overworked teams… If we add union work, and family constraints which are still mainly assumed by women, it becomes very complicated to cope. Ou then you have to have convictions anchored in your body.”
Nursing assistant at the Montluçon hospital (Allier), Catherine Dutheil admits: taking a union mandate in addition to work is “very difficult”. “You shouldn’t have a family life on the side, otherwise it’s unmanageable.” She became involved in trade unionism when her children were already old enough to fend for themselves. Otherwise, “she would never have done it”. When she was elected Force Ouvrière (FO) shop steward, 50% of her working time (one week out of two) was freed up for the union. “But in fact, during my week in the hospital department, I came to the union in the evening, I had had calls during the day.”
“We are in demand day and night because the hospital never stops running. The weekend teams also need us.”
Catherine Dutheil, caregiver and FO union delegatefranceinfo
In these sectors, employees, who are often already exhausted, are therefore reluctant to take on additional union duties. “When I try to recruit new people, I am told: ‘I will never do what you do’. I struggle to fill my lists”regrets Catherine Dutheil. “It’s very difficult for women in these professions to get involved. And it’s a double penalty because, suddenly, their rights are less defended, their interests less represented”adds Cécile Guillaume.
A burden weighed down by Macron orders
Especially since legislative changes in recent years have only increased the pressure on elected union representatives. Since the introduction of the Macron ordinances in 2017, which aimed to simplify the system of employee representation, the employee representative bodies (delegates, works council and CHSCT) have merged within the CSE. This centralization makes trips to headquarters more frequent.
Some small mandates also disappeared in the merger. “These were less heavy mandates in terms of workload, where you could learn unionism, gain confidence”, explains Cécile Guillaume. “Now there are fewer mandates, with a bigger workload. If you are not 100% delegated, it is difficult.”
When there is a shortage of staff and the workforce is tight, scheduling union days can also be difficult. “At the hospital, it’s already complicated for colleagues to take their leave, explains Catherine Dutheil. So if we ask for days of union activity… You have to plan a long time in advance, and you risk getting hurt by colleagues.”
* The first name has been changed