Railway Workers' Federation

The Railway Workers' Federation (Fédération des Cheminots) is the largest trade union representing workers on the railways in France.

History
The union was founded in 1917 as the National Federation of Railway Workers of France, the Colonies and the Protectorate Countries, and affiliated to the General Confederation of Labour (CGT). In 1921, many members left to join the United General Confederation of Labour, but they rejoined in 1935, and this took membership from 165,000 to a claimed 320,000. In 1939, union members who refused to denounce the German-Soviet pact were expelled, and in 1942, Pierre Semard, the union's former leader, was executed by the Vichy regime.

The union was banned during World War II, but reformed after the war, and in 1946 it had 394,000 members. In 1947, many on the right-wing of the union left to join Workers' Force. The CGT union remained the largest on the railways, and regularly undertook industrial action in defense of pay and conditions.

By 1994, the union had 58,822 members. By 2019, this had declined slightly to 42,640.

General Secretaries

 * 1917: Marcel Bidegaray
 * 1920: Gaston Monmousseau, Edmond Lévêque, Henri Sirolle and Lucien Midol
 * 1920: Marcel Bidegaray
 * 1921: Adolphe Montagne
 * 1923: Paul Le Guen
 * 1926: Jean Jarrigion
 * 1935: Pierre Semard and Jean Jarrigion
 * 1940: Roger Liaud
 * 1944: Raymond Tournemaine and Gérard Ouradou
 * 1948: Raymond Tournemaine
 * 1953: Robert Hernio
 * 1961: Georges Séguy
 * 1965: Charles Massabieaux
 * 1976: Georges Lanoue
 * 1993: Bernard Thibault
 * 2000: Didier Le Reste
 * 2010: Gilbert Garrel
 * 2017: Laurent Brun