THE CFDT AND THE BRAZILIAN TRADE UNION MOVEMENT ORIGIN AND OF AN INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY EXPERIENCE

In the field of international relations among unions, the good relationship between the french CFDT and the brazilian cut is remarkable in terms of its longevity and intensity. We propose to study its origin and motivations. It took the hardening of the regime and the circumstances of the exile for the french confederation to meet brazilian unionists. The study shows that the confederation was firstly linked with YCW activists of which some were also unionists and refugees in europe, and with whom the CFDT shared political points of view, social and economic. The CFDT then helped the "opposition" forces by providing very concrete assistance, ranging from provision of working premises to financial support, before moving closer to the "authentic" who were behind the creation of the cut. Indeed as the exile appeared to be without end, the CFDT wanted to get close to actors directly grappling with the social realities of the country and to support the authentics in their union rebuilding project. The study also shows that through this action of solidarity the cfdt played an important role in the reconstruction of unions and in redefining a new form of brazilian democracy. Therefore, politics of the cfdt regarding brazil, beyond revealing the issues of trade union international relations and highlighting the evolution of the confederation, more and more preoccupied by its implantation in the firms, help to understand major issues of modern brazil.