Marc Fiacre Henri Blondel (2 May 1938 – 16 March 2014) was a

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trade union leader. Born in

Courbevoie Courbevoie () is a Communes of France, commune located in the Hauts-de-Seine department of the Île-de-France region of France. It is a suburb of Paris, from the Kilometre zero, center of Paris. The centre of Courbevoie is situated from the ci ...

, Blondel grew up with his mother in Hénin-Liétard, while his father was active in the

French Resistance The French Resistance ( ) was a collection of groups that fought the German military administration in occupied France during World War II, Nazi occupation and the Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy#France, collaborationist Vic ...

. After the war, the family reunited in Paris, and Blondel went to secondary school in

Nanterre Nanterre (; ) is the prefecture of the Hauts-de-Seine department in the western suburbs of Paris, France. It is located some northwest of the centre of Paris. In 2018, the commune had a population of 96,807. The eastern part of Nanterre, b ...

, where he joined the Socialist Youth. He then went to study law while taking various part-time jobs, and one of these led him to join the Trade Union Federation of PTT Workers, part of

Workers' Force The General Confederation of Labor - Workers' Force (, or simply , FO), is one of the five major union confederations in France. In terms of following, it is the third behind the CGT and the CFDT. Force Ouvrière was founded in 1948 by former ...

(FO). Blondel campaigned for

Algerian independence An independence referendum was held in French Algeria on 1 July 1962. It followed French approval of the Évian Accords in an April referendum. Voters were asked whether Algeria should become an independent state, co-operating with France; 99.7 ...

, and this led him to join the Autonomous Socialist Party. However, he disagreed with its merger into the Unified Socialist Party and so left political activity. Instead, he became active in the

Grand Orient de France The Grand Orient de France (, abbr. GODF) is the oldest and largest of several Freemasonic organizations based in France and is the oldest in Continental Europe (as it was formed out of an older Grand Lodge of France in 1773, and briefly absorbe ...

, becoming prominent in left-wing freemasonry. In 1960, Blondel began working for ASSEDIC, where he formed a network of union branches. This success led him to become secretary of the union representing workers in social organisations in the Paris region, and from 1961, he served on the executive of the Federation of Employees and Managers (FEC), and then its national secretary in 1965. He began advocating a merger between FO, the General Confederation of Labour (CGT), and the

French Democratic Confederation of Labour The French Democratic Confederation of Labour (, CFDT) is a national trade union center, one of the five major French confederations of trade unions, led since 2023 by . It is the second largest French trade union confederation by number of memb ...

(CFDT). This was not popular with the FO leadership, but Blondel continued to rise in prominence, being active in

May 1968 The following events occurred in May 1968: May 1, 1968 (Wednesday) *In Dallas, at its first meeting since its creation through a merger, the United Methodist Church removed its rule that Methodist ministers could not drink alcohol nor sm ...

movement, and in 1974 winning election as the general secretary of the FEC. In 1980, Blondel moved to work at the national office of FO, leading on economic issues, and in 1981 he was elected to the governing body of the

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. In 1989, he was elected as general secretary of FO, narrowly beating Jean-Claude Pitous, and becoming the first leader of FO not to have been part of its 1948 split from the CGT. His victory was owed in part to the support of the Trotskyist

Workers' Party Workers' Party is a name used by several political parties throughout the world. The name has been used by both organisations on the left and right of the political spectrum. It is currently used by followers of Marxism, Marxism–Leninism, Maoism ...

, and this led him to face inaccurate accusations of being a Trotskyist himself. Under Blondel's leadership, the FO adopted more radical policies, but faced falling membership. In 1995, it worked with the CGT to campaign against

Alain Juppé Alain Marie Juppé (; born 15 August 1945) is a French politician. A member of The Republicans, he was Prime Minister of France from 1995 to 1997 under President Jacques Chirac, during which period he faced major strikes that paralysed the c ...

's plan to reorganise social security. He symbolically shook hands with the CGT leader, Louis Viannet. He was consistently re-elected with large majorities, until he retired in 2004. He then became president of the National Federation of Free Thought, the Friends of Fred Zeller, and the Friends of Léon Jouhaux.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blondel, Marc 1938 births 2014 deaths French trade union leaders People from Courbevoie Deaths from cancer in France Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery