(en) France, Alternative Libertaire AL #225 - Elections in very small enterprises: An election for nothing (fr)

In December 2012 were the first elections in very small enterprises (VSEs). They have 
resulted in a low turnout, a corollary of low union density and an election which gave no 
new rights to employee-es. ---- In almost all companies employed fewer than eleven-es, 
there is no staff delegates or committee business: it is not mandatory, so necessarily the 
owners do not. In December, for the first time, these workers could vote for the union of 
their choice.The very low turnout (10.38%) is not a surprise. These companies are deserts 
union. The trade union movement, locked for years in what he thought to be bastions bears 
a heavy responsibility for the desertion of this sector. But the first reason is the 
repression against those who try to unionisation. The absence of representative 
institutions, and on legal protection they entail, weighs.

And this is one of the major flaws of this election: it gave no new rights to employee-es, 
created no staff representative or trade union rights. Its sole purpose was to meet the 
obligations of the law on the representativeness of 2008.

Another major difference with professional elections: in the latter, are employee-vote to 
select spokespersons who are accountable to their mandate. There they had the choice 
between acronyms, "Marks union" somehow! Numerous failures making access difficult vote 
did not improve participation: voter approximate random internet voting, postal voting 
material received late, etc..

To develop an implementation
If we refer only to national organizations, the scores are as follows: 32.99% for CGT, 
21.51% for the CFDT, FO 17.03%, 8.21% for Unsa, 7, 29% for the CFTC, 5.31% for Partners, 
2.67% for the Autonomous Confederation of Labour (CAT), 2.59% for the GSC and 2.38% for 
the CNT. Power relations are essentially the same as in union elections and are not 
unrelated to the number of unionized workers in each organization. It should be noted that 
the Corsican Workers Union, the General Union of Workers of Guadeloupe and Guyana Workers 
Union confirmed their first places in Corsica, Guadeloupe and French Guiana.

In the aftermath of the election, unionism is not more prevalent in TPE. But there is the 
real issue! If the campaign has hardly motivated many union collective basis, however, it 
has led to a resurgence of activity of local unions or inter-departmental to these 
companies. We have a role to play: to continue this momentum, broadening support, to 
ensure that trade unions in which we advocate translated into action reaffirmed the 
priority of one congress (the CGT and Solidarity in particular) development sectors in the 
most precarious and least unionized. Impose new rights for these employee-es, involve them 
in the union local support their struggles ... Make unionism!

Mouldi (AL Transcom)