Marylise Léon will succeed Laurent Berger at the head of the CFDT. At 46, she will take over the leadership of the union this summer. Who is she ?
The CGT had paved the way, the CFDT did the same, even if it remains only a simple set of circumstances. Marylise Léon will become the union’s next general secretary, Laurent Berger announced this Wednesday, April 19, 2023. After 11 years at the head of the organization, the unionist will hand over on June 21 to the one who has been, since 2018, its number 2. The current deputy secretary general will therefore climb the final rung and find herself a little more on the front of the stage, a few weeks after the arrival of Sophie Binet at the head of the CGT.
Laurent Berger describes in Le Monde his successor as “dynamic”, with “an understanding of the world of work which is strong, sometimes finer than mine, for example on the question of new forms of employment.” “She fought vigorously during the negotiations on unemployment insurance and she is convinced that the ecological transition must be carried out in a fair way from a social point of view. She is appreciated within the house, she is close to the people, human” he continues.
A native of Le Mans, Marylise Léon, now 46 years old, wandered around: Sarthe, therefore, originally, but also Angers and Créteil for her studies, at the end of which she emerged with multiple degrees in chemistry and biology. Specializing in pollution control issues, she was hired by a motorway company to work on this subject in the early 2000s, Le Télégramme reported. Then came the AZF accident in Toulouse. In 2003, two years after the tragedy, she was hired by the CFDT chimie-énergie to “help activists to contribute to risk prevention through their work, for example by checking that reality is in line with what is planned on the paper.” This is how she took her first steps in trade unionism.
Mother of two children, she is involved in this organization which sticks to her “markers”, as she confided on a daily basis: “First emancipation and critical thinking. The idea that everyone must forge their own own opinion..” Recognized for her action within the union, she was elected Deputy General Secretary in 2018, then re-elected in 2022. Periods during which she notably mobilized against the unemployment reform, in 2019. Involved against that retreats this year, it will be up to him, starting this summer, to prepare for the future.
