As the 53rd Congress of the CGT opens in Clermont-Ferrand, Philippe Martinez bows out, this Monday, March 27, as Secretary General of the CGT. After eight years at the head of one of the largest unions in the country, this emblematic figure of the social struggle will leave his place, without however retiring immediately. It is, in fact, a homecoming that awaits Philippe Martinez with a few additional months of work.
As he told Le Monde last week, Philippe Martinez will continue to work and take over the management of Renault, in particular that of the Technocentre in Guyancourt in the Yvelines for “six to nine months”. At the age of 61, he explains that he “misses quarters to be entitled to the full rate” and that “like the other employees […], despite [a] legal age [fixed at] 62 , the average departure age is 63”. The former secretary general did not, however, specify the content of his activities, contenting himself with ironically asserting, to our colleagues from BFMTV, that his original employer was “delighted”.
It should be remembered that Philippe Martinez spent his entire career at Renault. After starting out as a metallurgist technician in Boulogne-Billancourt in 1982, he joined the CGT in 1984. It was in 2008 that he took over as head of the federation of metallurgists at the CGT before becoming general secretary. union in 2015. He already plans to get involved in associations after the acquisition of his last quarters and continue his investment with the CGT. Until then, his succession promises to be very disputed with the candidacies of Marie Buisson and Céline Verzeletti.