Union leaders key to strike deal

France in revolt: Public transport remains at a standstill but government postpones SNCF plan in effort to get country moving

MARY DEJEVSKY

Paris

As the strikers and the French government edge gradually towards the talks that are inevitably going to end the past two weeks of mass protests, much will depend on the individuals who have emerged as marshals, if not exactly leaders, of the strike movement. They are Marc Blondel, leader of the Force Ouvriere, and Louis Viannet of the CGT.

On the sidelines, though, is a figure who is no less crucial to the negotiating process: Nicole Notat, the 47 year old head of the socialist-orientated CFDT, who has been distinguished by her moderate, and often isolated, stand on Alain Juppe's controversial social security reforms. Ms Notat's political sympathies are on the left, but her penchant for plain speaking, her willingness to stand alone, and her fair complexion have drawn comparisons in France with "Madame Thatcher".

By comparison, Mr Blondel and Mr Viannet, who are in their 50s, come across in style and language as old-style trade unionists, whose preoccupation is the "hard won social benefits" of their members. Both, however, have a good deal of personal and professional rivalry which they only reluctantly suppressed in the hope of seeing the end of the Juppe government.

Of the two, Mr Blondel is the more deceptive character. Despite his proletarian gruffness, he is a qualified lawyer, and also a bit of a gourmet; he appreciates the restaurants frequented by the company directors he negotiates with, and is himself a dab hand with the frying pan. He also has a certain sense of style. At recent demonstrations he has turned up in a smart beige raincoat, red scarf and well-fitting grey cap.

He has a rhetorical tendency to sound totally uncompromising, while carefully leaving an escape route. His legalistic distinction this week between Mr Juppe's "consensus-seeking", and his own insistence on "negotiations" was a characteristic example. He also has a sense for where power lies, agreeing to sit on the committee which has until now agreed the welfare budget, and talking behind the scenes to Mr Chirac even before he was elected president. Now, however, he is said to be disillusioned.

Mr Viannet gives the impression of being a genuinely old-fashioned union leader, whose style has been cramped in recent weeks by his need for re- election at the CGT's congress this week.

Despite representing between them more than 50 per cent of all public sector employees, Mr Blondel, Mr Viannet and Ms Notat are handicapped in their capacity to negotiate with the government by two factors. The discord between them weakens their collective authority, but a peculiarity of the current dispute also calls into question their claim to be leading it.

Three weeks ago, when Mr Juppe announced his welfare reforms, and even two weeks ago, when the transport strikes began in earnest and other public sector workers started to join in, there was almost no visible leadership of the protest movement. Mr Blondel and Mr Viannet were low-key, and Ms Notat had come out in qualified support of Mr Juppe's plan. Opposition political leaders were also restrained. They all seemed to be as surprised as the government by the strength of popular protest and the extent of public sympathy.

For the first few weeks of the protest, at least, the initiative seemed to lie with the rank and file protestors, with Mr Blondel and Mr Viannet realising belatedly that here was a movement crying out for leadership.