Death of trade unionist Claude Pitus

animated throughout his struggle as a trade unionist” Transformation of the wage situation” by A “reformist spirit” He was almost Secretary General of the Force Ouvrière (FO). Claude Pittus, Honorary Inspector General of Social Affairs, died on September 4 at his home in Lairac (Lot-et-Garonne) after a long illness, aged 86. He was born on January 3, 1936 in Agen (Lot-et-Garonne), in the year of the Popular Front. He started his professional life as an assistant tax agent from 1955 to 1957. During his military service, he spent two years in Algeria. , he prepares and passes the entrance exam at PTT. It is assigned to the Argentan Sorting Center (Orne).

Claude Pittus spent his entire professional career from 1960 to 1989 at PTT as an operating agent and then as a receptionist. In 1960, he joined the PTT federation of the FO and has represented its union at all confederation congresses since 1963, when André Bergeron took over as general secretary. General Secretary of the PTT Federation in 1978, in January 1982 he joined the FO’s confederation office, its management, where he was responsible for overseas departments and territories, public sector wage negotiations and union training. From 1979 to 1984, he served on the Economic and Social Council, and from 1979 to 1985 on the National Commission on Computing and Freedoms.

Great power of faith

Working his way up to the point where he can sometimes seem a bit over the top, Claude Pitus doesn’t try to push himself. But this apparent reserve poorly hides the great power of faith. He explains this through pedagogy during the trainings he leads at the Château de la Breviere in the forest of Compiègne. “We do not intend to access the direction of the state, He explains to the future executives of his organization. This independence is one of the keys to our inner unity. » Strongly anti-communist, it is “Pure Sugar Reformist” cautions the CFDT, which ” managed to combine appearance and trompe”. A social democrat has never been a member of a socialist party, he wants to be pragmatic first.

Author of two self-published books in the 1980s, a specific way and Reformist Trade Union Principles and Prospects, Claude Pittus emphasizes his struggle: “ We are low income individuals, he declares, because we can sign small compromises that give a little extra. Adding small extras that add up to big pluses. It’s this sensible profile that will lead Andre Bergeron to make him his unofficial successor when it comes time to transfer. Without publicly expressing this support, the old leader primarily wants to block Mark Blondell, whom he does not support.