Projecting Louis

Louis Saillant is a trade unionist and resistant French, born in 1910 with Valence (Drome) and deceased in October 1974.

Biography

Member of the Federation CGT of the building, it is initially close to Leon Jouhaux and the tendency not-Communist of CGT, majority until in 1947.

November 15th, 1940, whereas Rene Belin has just dissolved the trade-union organizations, Saillant is one of the signatories of the " Proclamation of the Twelve " , founding document of the French trade unionism in its opposition to Vichy. Like the majority of the signatories of this proclamation, it will join quickly the movement of Résistance “Release-North”. It will be consequently resistant pugnacious and untiring.

Thus, in March 1943, it organizes a clandestine federation CGT of the postal and telecommunications authorities. April 17th, 1943, with Robert Bothereau, it organizes clandestinely with the Perreux, in the Parisian suburbs, a meeting with the ex-unit Henri Raynaud and André Tollet. This meeting is at the origin of the Accords of Perreux which puts a term at the division of CGT as well in the field of the action as of the organization.

He is the representative of the CGT to the National council of the Resistance, whose he assumes the chairmanship on September 11th, 1944. One will then find it in Algiers, like representative of CGT to GPRF.

To the Release, it enters to the Confederal office. In March 1946, at the conclusion of the “world trade-union Conference”, which is taken place in Paris under the presidency of Leon Jouhaux and in the presence of three hundreds delegated of sixty-five country, will be born the world Trade union federation, of which he will become the general secretary until 1968.

Whereas within CGT, it animated a " group; centriste" , located between the friends of Jouhaux and the Communists carried out by Benoit Frachon, at the time of the scission of December 1947, it will remain with the Confederal office, refusing to join Jouhaux and Bothereau in the new CGT- Working force.

Member of the Movement of peace, it receives the Prix Lénine international for peace in 1958.

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