Main French unions have called for coordination with other European unions in an “unprecedented initiative” to combat the far right in the European Union (EU) as European Parliament elections approach in June.
“The far right is coordinating its actions at the European level, just like us,” said the leader of the French General Confederation of Labor (CGT), Sophie Binet, at a joint press conference with representatives of the Confederation of German Trade Unions (DGB, an acronym for the English German), General Confederation of Labor of Italy (CGIL, acronym in Italian) and the European Trade Union Confederation (CES).
The EU debate comes in the context of the rise of far-right parties in several European Union (EU) countries ahead of European Parliament elections from 6 to 9 June 2024.
The initiative aims to “expose the social deception of the far right” by focusing in France on the National Union party (RN, its French acronym) in preparation for the June elections, Binet added, noting that far right Jordan Bardella’s right-wing party is leading with about 30% of the vote in France, according to the latest polls.
The representative of the French Democratic Confederation of Labor (CFDT), Marilise Leon, emphasized that the CGT declares the possibility of “implementing a social project that is incompatible with what the extreme right is implementing, namely a political program based on inequality of rights.” among the workers.
“We are very clear that we are in dialogue with far-right voters, we do not need to have any debate with the leaders of these political groups that inherently carry inequality of rights in their projects,” Leon said.
Sophie Binet also noted that “what all these European far-rights have in common is that, fundamentally, they know they have to win the workers’ vote, but deep down they have an agenda in the service of capital, the pro-employer side.” , citing the example of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) and the Georgia Meloni government in Italy.
For ETUC Deputy Secretary General Isabelle Schömann, European unions are “a protective barrier against the far right.”