thumb|A CGT banner during a 2005 demonstration in Paris
The General Confederation of Labour (, , CGT) is a national trade union center, founded in 1895 in the city of Limoges. It is the first of the five major French confederations of trade unions.
It is the largest in terms of votes in the Labour Court elections (34.0% in the 2008 election), and second largest in terms of membership numbers.
Its membership decreased to 650,000 members in 1995–1996 (it had more than doubled when François Mitterrand was elected president in 1981), before increasing today to between 700,000 and 720,000 members, slightly fewer than the Confédération Française Démocratique du Travail (CFDT).
According to the historian M. Dreyfus, the direction of the CGT is slowly evolving, since the 1990s, during which it cut all organic links with the French Communist Party (PCF), in favour of a more moderate stance. The CGT is concentrating its attention, in particular since the 1995 general strikes, to trade-unionism in the private sector.
At the end of Henri Krasucki's term (1982–1992), he began to distance himself from the French Communist Party (PCF). His successor, Louis Viannet, did the same, going as far as resigning from the political bureau of the party.
In 2023, the CGT was involved in the interunion social movement against pension reform which organized strikes and protests in 300 towns across France, and wrote to Emmanuel Macron requesting negotiations, then, having not been received, mediation and a suspension of the <bdi>2023 French pension reform bill</bdi>.
On 18 June 2024, the CGT called for a vote for the New Popular Front (NFP) in the 2024 French legislative elections. with the CGT General Secretary Sophie Binet also personally endorsing the NFP. Céline Verzeletti, a senior CGT member and General Secretary of the Federal Union of State Trade Unions, was nominated by the NFP for Paris's 15th constituency. The decision to endorse the NFP presented a turning point, since while the CGT has regularly called for a vote against the far right, in recent decades it has not called for people to vote for any specific party or bloc, due in part to the CGT's Amiens Charter — which recognizes the independence of trade unions from political parties.
Within the CGT branches in the region, there was however a growing wish for independence. A leader of CGT in French West Africa, Bassirou Guèye, promoted this idea. At a meeting of the Territorial Union of Trade Unions in Senegal and Mauritania, held in Dakar 11 November – 12 November 1955, the majority of delegates voted for separation from the French CGT. A conference was held in Saint-Louis on 14 January – 15 January 1956 which formed the Confédération générale des travailleurs africains (CGTA), separating the parts of the West African CGT organizations from the French CGT. At the conference 50 out of 67 delegates had voted for separation.
In Togo, CGT had 45,100 members in 1948 (65% of organized labour). By 1952 the number had decreased to 34,000 (46% of organized labour).
CGT formed a branch in Madagascar in 1936.
Publications
The CGT has two publications La Vie Ouvrière, and .
Affiliated organisations
Federations
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! Affiliate !! Abbreviation !! Founded !! Membership (2019)
|-
| Banking and Insurance Staff Unions Federation || FSBPA || ||
|-
| Commerce, Services and Distribution Federation || || 1973 || 44,980
|-
| Federation of Education, Research and Culture || FERC || 1948 || 25,258
|-
| Federation of Employees in the Postal and Telecommunications Sector || FAPT || 1919 || 49,346
|-
| Federation of Design Studios || FSE || 1980 ||
|-
| Federation of Workers in the Book, Paper and Communication Industries || FILPAC || 1982 ||
|-
| Finance Federation || Finances || 1930 ||
|-
| General Federation of National Police Trade Unions || || 1946 ||
|-
| Health and Social Protection Federation || Santé || 1979 || 74,725
|-
| Merchant Marine Officers' Federation || FOMM || ||
|-
| Metalworkers' Federation || FTM || 1909 || 62,131
|-
| National Federation of Agri-Food and Forestry || FNAF || 1981 || 22,701
|-
| National Federation of Chemical Industries || FNIC || 1907 || 24,814
|-
| National Federation of Construction, Wood and Furniture Employees || FNSCBA || 2011 ||
|-
| National Federation of Entertainment, Cinema, Audiovisual and Cultural Action Unions || FNSAC || 1902 ||
|-
| National Federation of Equipment and the Environment || FNEE || 1973 ||
|-
| National Federation of Glass and Ceramic Workers || || ||
|-
| National Federation of Maritime Unions || FNSM || 1905 ||
|-
| National Federation of Mines and Energy || FNME || 1999 || 58,064
|-
| National Federation of Ports and Docks || || 1901 ||
|-
| National Federation of Staff of Social Organisations || Orgasociaux || ||
|-
| National Federation of State Workers || FNTE || 1922 ||
|-
| National Union of Journalists || SNJ || 1918 ||
|-
| Public Services Federation || || 1903 || 80,717
|-
| Railway Workers' Federation || Cheminots || 1917 || 42,640
|-
| Temporary Staff Union || USI || 1968 ||
|-
| Textile, Clothing, Leather and Laundry Federation || THCB || 1985 ||
|-
| Transport Federation || FNST || 1902 || 36,432
|}
Other affiliates
- Federal Union of State Trade Unions (UFSE-CGT)
- General Union of Engineers, Managers and Technicians CGT (UGICT-CGT)
- Confederation of CGT retirees' union (UCR-CGT)
- Young CGT
- National Committee for the Fight and Defense of the Unemployed
Former federations
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! Affiliate !! Abbreviation !! Founded !! Reason not affiliated !! Year !! Membership (1937) !! Membership (1946)