Confédération Générale du Travail-Syndicaliste Révolutionnaire

The Confédération Générale du Travail-Syndicaliste Révolutionnaire, commonly abbreviated CGT-SR, was a French national trade-union centre active from 1926 until the reorganisation of the labour movement after the Liberation of France. It emerged from the libertarian and anti-communist tendency within the Unitary General Confederation of Labour (CGTU), after the French Communist Party consolidated control over that organisation and aligned it with the Red International of Labour Unions. The CGT-SR presented itself as a revolutionary syndicalist alternative to both the communist-led CGTU and the reformist General Confederation of Labour (CGT). The organisation was created in Lyon in November 1926 at a congress attended by delegates from autonomous unions. Eighty-four unions voted to establish the new confederation. Lucien Huart became its first general secretary, while Pierre Besnard served as its principal ideological spokesman and was closely associated with its international work. The CGT-SR affiliated with the International Workers' Association, reflecting its rejection of both communist and reformist international union structures. Its programme rested on federalism, direct action, workers' self-management and the political independence of trade unions. The confederation rejected formal cooperation with political parties and regarded unions, rather than parliamentary organisations, as the instruments through which workers would transform society. Its Lyon Charter, drafted by Besnard, emphasised the self-sufficiency of syndicalism, the participation of technicians and scientists in social reconstruction, and cooperation between industrial workers and rural producers. The organisation supported shorter working hours, sick pay, works councils, the abolition of military tribunals, and the repeal of restrictions on contraception and abortion. It also advocated an egalitarian single-wage principle intended to reduce or eliminate differences between skilled and unskilled workers. The CGT-SR was strongest among artisans and workers in small or self-managed workplaces. Its membership included construction workers, metallurgists, leather workers, garment workers, barbers, shoemakers and transport workers. Important centres existed in Lyon, Saint-Etienne, Limoges, Bordeaux, Clermont-Ferrand, Marseille, Toulouse, Trelaze and other southern or central French locations, while it also maintained a presence in the Paris region. Its social base was narrower than that of the CGT and CGTU, and it failed to build a mass organisation. The confederation's ideological exclusivity limited cooperation with other unions and contributed to its marginal position. The organisation developed a publishing and propaganda infrastructure. In 1927 the International Workers' Association transferred responsibility for Le Voix du Travail to the CGT-SR. From 1928 the confederation published Le Combat Syndicaliste, whose circulation was reported at approximately 6,000 copies, with a larger readership. These publications carried syndicalist arguments, labour news and criticism of communist influence in the trade-union movement. The Spanish Civil War temporarily increased the CGT-SR's visibility and membership. It organised solidarity activity for Spanish anarchists and supported the broader revolutionary syndicalist cause. However, it criticised the Spanish CNT after the latter entered the government of the Spanish Republic, bringing the CGT-SR into conflict with important organisations in the anarchist movement. This controversy deepened its isolation. It had already refused to merge with the CGT after the 1936 reunification of that organisation, preferring to preserve its separate revolutionary-syndicalist identity. By the end of the Spanish Civil War, the CGT-SR was isolated both from the wider labour movement and from much of the international anarchist movement. Following the Liberation of France, it was reorganised as the National Confederation of Labour. The CGT-SR is therefore best understood as a historically important but small French syndicalist federation rather than a commercial brand. Its legacy lies in the French debate over trade-union autonomy, direct action, anti-party organisation and the relationship between anarchism and revolutionary syndicalism.

The CGT-SR developed from the crisis of French revolutionary syndicalism after the First World War. The pre-war labour movement had been influenced by revolutionary syndicalism, but wartime cooperation between the CGT, the French state and the Socialist Party strengthened reformist tendencies. Post-war economic hardship and renewed strike activity revived revolutionary politics, while the French Communist Party sought to place organised labour under communist direction. The resulting split produced the CGTU, but communist influence soon expanded within that federation. Pierre Besnard, a railway-union leader and prominent syndicalist, opposed the affiliation of the CGTU with the Red International of Labour Unions and defended the independence of trade unions from all political parties. His faction formed the Syndicalist Defense Committee to resist the Bolshevisation of the CGTU. When its resolutions were repeatedly defeated, autonomous unions began leaving the CGTU. In 1924, several of these unions formed the Federative Union of Autonomous Trade Unions. The federation attempted to preserve the syndicalist tradition associated with the Amiens Charter and hoped that pressure from autonomous unions would encourage the CGT and CGTU to reunite without party control. That strategy failed. The autonomous federation weakened, while both major confederations retained their organisational strength. A congress in Lyon in November 1926 created the CGT-SR. Delegates representing dozens of autonomous unions voted overwhelmingly for a new confederation. The statutes, drafted by Lucien Huart, limited the power of officeholders through provisions such as single-term restrictions and bans on simultaneously holding multiple offices. The new organisation based its headquarters in Lyon, affiliated with the International Workers' Association and appointed Huart as general secretary. Besnard became its leading public advocate. The confederation's membership was concentrated among artisans and workers in small workplaces. Construction, metalworking, leather, clothing, shoemaking, barbering and transport were among its principal fields. It had significant sections in Lyon and Saint-Etienne and organisational links in Limoges, Bordeaux, Marseille, Toulouse, Clermont-Ferrand, Trelaze and Paris. It attracted workers who opposed industrial rationalisation, bureaucratic union structures and communist party influence, but its social base remained too narrow to challenge the CGT or CGTU nationally. The CGT-SR's ideological rigidity was both its defining strength and its principal limitation. It refused political-party affiliation and generally rejected joint action with unions outside its revolutionary-syndicalist framework. Although it supported practical demands such as shorter hours, sick pay and works councils, it treated these reforms as part of a broader programme of direct action and social transformation. Critics argued that its refusal to compromise prevented it from reaching workers who were less committed to anarchist or syndicalist principles. Publishing was central to its activity. In 1927 it assumed responsibility for Le Voix du Travail from the International Workers' Association, and in 1928 it established Le Combat Syndicaliste as its official organ. These publications helped maintain a national identity despite the confederation's relatively small membership. The Spanish Civil War brought a short-lived increase in activity. The CGT-SR organised solidarity for Spanish anarchists and promoted the revolutionary syndicalist interpretation of the conflict. Its criticism of the Spanish CNT's decision to participate in the Republican government, however, created tensions with other anarchist organisations. The confederation also refused to join the reunified CGT in 1936, preserving its autonomy but further reducing opportunities for influence. The organisation entered the Second World War already marginalised. After the Liberation of France, its remaining structures were reorganised under the name National Confederation of Labour. The CGT-SR consequently disappeared as a separate national centre, while its principles continued to influence later French anarcho-syndicalist and revolutionary-syndicalist currents.

• 1936

  Refusal to join the reunified CGT

  [1]Confédération Générale du Travail-Syndicaliste Révolutionnaireen.wikipedia.org

  After the CGT and CGTU reunified, the CGT-SR declined to merge, maintaining its separate revolutionary-syndicalist identity.

• 1928

  Launch of Le Combat Syndicaliste

  [1]Confédération Générale du Travail-Syndicaliste Révolutionnaireen.wikipedia.org

  The confederation began publishing Le Combat Syndicaliste as its official organ.

• 1927

  Transfer of Le Voix du Travail

  [1]Confédération Générale du Travail-Syndicaliste Révolutionnaireen.wikipedia.org

  The International Workers' Association transferred control of Le Voix du Travail to the CGT-SR, strengthening its communications network.

• 1926

  CGT-SR established in Lyon

  [1]Confédération Générale du Travail-Syndicaliste Révolutionnaireen.wikipedia.org

  A congress of autonomous unions created the CGT-SR, which adopted revolutionary syndicalism and affiliated with the International Workers' Association.

• 1924

  Formation of the autonomous-union federation

  [1]Confédération Générale du Travail-Syndicaliste Révolutionnaireen.wikipedia.org

  Autonomous unions formed the Federative Union of Autonomous Trade Unions as an alternative to both the CGT and the increasingly communist-led CGTU.

• 1923

  Opposition to CGTU alignment with the RILU

  [1]Confédération Générale du Travail-Syndicaliste Révolutionnaireen.wikipedia.org

  The CGTU joined the Red International of Labour Unions, a decision opposed by Besnard's anti-party syndicalist faction.

• 1921

  Besnard leads the syndicalist opposition

  [1]Confédération Générale du Travail-Syndicaliste Révolutionnaireen.wikipedia.org

  Pierre Besnard became general secretary of the Revolutionary Syndicalist Committees and emerged as a central opponent of communist control over French trade unions.

• Reorganisation as the National Confederation of Labour

  [1]Confédération Générale du Travail-Syndicaliste Révolutionnaireen.wikipedia.org

  Following the Liberation of France, the CGT-SR was reorganised under the name National Confederation of Labour.

A revolutionary syndicalist, federalist and explicitly anti-party trade-union alternative to the reformist CGT and communist-led CGTU.

• Trade-union publication · 1928

  Le Combat Syndicaliste

  The CGT-SR's official newspaper, launched in 1928. It communicated the confederation's revolutionary-syndicalist programme, reported on labour struggles and promoted trade-union independence from political parties. Its reported circulation was about 6,000 copies, with a broader estimated readership.

• Trade-union publication

  Le Voix du Travail

  A syndicalist publication placed under CGT-SR responsibility by the International Workers' Association in 1927. It provided an international communications channel for revolutionary syndicalist ideas and labour campaigns.

• 1936Solidarity with Spanish anarchists

  France · Spain

  The outbreak of the Spanish Civil War stimulated CGT-SR activity. The confederation organised solidarity campaigns supporting Spanish anarchists and publicised the revolutionary syndicalist cause.

  Outcome. The campaign increased the organisation's visibility and membership for a time, but its criticism of the CNT's participation in the Spanish Republican government produced conflict with other anarchist organisations.

  Source

• 1936

  Decision not to merge into the reunified CGTStrategy

  Background

  The CGT and CGTU reunified during the French Popular Front period, creating pressure for smaller labour organisations to join the enlarged confederation.

  Action taken

  The CGT-SR refused to merge and preserved its separate organisational structure.

  Aftermath

  The decision maintained doctrinal independence but reinforced the confederation's isolation from the wider labour movement.

  Source

• 1926

  Adoption of an explicitly anti-party syndicalist strategyStrategy

  Background

  The CGT-SR was created after communist influence consolidated within the CGTU and its syndicalist minority lost the ability to shape the federation's policy.

  Action taken

  The new confederation rejected affiliation with political parties and positioned trade unions as the primary agents of revolutionary transformation.

  Aftermath

  This policy gave the CGT-SR a clear ideological identity but restricted cooperation and contributed to its marginal position in French organised labour.

  • Confédération générale du travail — The reformist CGT remained a separate competing national centre.
  • Confédération générale du travail unitaire — The communist-led CGTU remained the principal competing revolutionary labour centre.

  Source

1. 1Confédération Générale du Travail-Syndicaliste Révolutionnaireen.wikipedia.org