General trade union of the book and the written communication CGT

The General trade union of the book and the written communication (SGLCE-CGT) is the trade union of the workmen of the Imprimerie S and the distribution of the press. It is adherent Fédération of the workers of the book-related industries, paper and communication CGT. It is the single trade union among the workmen of the French national Daily press.

History

The inter-union Committee of the Book east creates on November 21st, 1934 by the réuion trade unions of the Typographers, Correctors, Mechanic-Linos, Founders and Deliver-paper.

A national collective agreement will be signed on September 17th, 1936, between the Federation of the Book and the Master-printers.

In 1944, the General de Gaulle load the CGT of the impression of the newspapers but which must keep the personnel which printed the newspapers collaborationnists.

Inter-union committee of the Parisian book

The inter-union committee of the Parisian book, which gathers the trade unions of the book by profession, has a rather single role in the staff management of the printing works of press.

This organization provides a double function: that of defense of the advantages of paid national daily press and that of labor exchange of the workmen of the book in printing works of Parisian press.

The placement of the workmen of the book in the press companies Parisian results from “the collective agreement of work of the workmen of the press companies of the Paris region” which lays out in its article 14 that: “ the recruitment is carried out by the head of the undertaking or its representative in agreement with the delegates or according to the uses which will be specified by each technical appendix (...) ”.

The labor exchange concerns only the workmen and functions in the following way:

the workmen ask to be registered on a list drawn up by the labor exchange;
once registered on the list, the workmen are called step by step by the labor exchange and are proposed with the printers according to their needs. This availability of the workmen registered at the labor exchange is called “permanence”.

The trade union thus has a monopoly of recruitings in the sector, source of its power. The system is connected then with that of the British Closed shop and makes it possible to the employees to profit from very an high level of wages. Thus, according to a senatorial report/ratio, the weight of the wages in the costs of the impression of press (daily newspapers) is of 80% compared with 35% in the printing works of labor (other publications).

Decline of the daily press

The trade union of the book is often shown to be one of the major causes of the decline of the daily written press in France. Would be in question it until - boutism of the trade union, his sometimes qualified practices of high gangsters and the price policy imposed by the trade union on printing works, intended to avoid competition between printing works. Thus, the daily press counted 206 titles into 1946,135 in 1954 and 80 in 2OO2.

Businesses

Censure

The draftsman Plantu denounced the censure carried out by the trade union of the book. He quoted in example a caricature drawn for the magazine the Life of the Rail at the time of the 25 years of the TGV which was not published by the direction by fear of the trade-union reaction of the CGT which could could have involved the blocking of the impression of the magazine.

Paper diversion to the profit of Cuba

In its book Special Last , Emmanuel Schwarzenberg reveals the existence then dismantling, in 1987, of a paper traffic with Cuba. Thus, it reveals that 5% of the paper (200 tons) intended for the national daily newspapers were diverted by the trade union of the book to the profit of the cuban official press. When this traffic is discovered and dismantled in 1987, Robert Harrowing would have decided not to carry felt sorry for vis-a-vis the threats of strike action of the trade union of the book.

The hiding place of weapons of the NMPP

In 1991, the direction of the NMPP discovers a hiding place of more than 5000 weapons in one of its warehouses of Saint-Ouen. These weapons had been diverted then hidden by workmen members of the trade union of the book during the bankruptcy of Manufrance in 1980 in preparation for the “great evening”. The direction of the NMPP will not carry not felt sorry for.

According to Emmanuel Schwarzenberg, the scandal would have been choked by the Socialist government of the time, anxious to spare CGT.

Intimidations

Many cases of intimidation were reported with respect to newspapers choosing not to pass by the quasi-monopoly of the NMPP. For example, at the time of the exit of the daily newspaper Subway in 2002, of many cases of physical violences with respect to the distributers of Subway by members of the trade union of the book were brought back. Flights were made in printing works and the distribution was strongly disturbed by members of the trade union of the book. The daily newspaper 20 minutes was also the target of the trade union of the book which tried to prevent its publication on March 18th 2002.

In 1992, the company the Best Editions SA , editor of the newspapers Best the and Spéciale Last had wanted to change printer in order to reduce its costs. The trade union of the book prevented the other printing works controlled by the trade union of the book to accept the contracts under the constraint of strikes. When the editor called upon a printing works not controlled by the trade union of the book (printing works of labor), this one was sequestered and obliged to sign an new agreement under the constraint. Thereafter, the trade union of the book prevented the publication of the newspapers during several months by reprisal.

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