- Constitution of the Popular Front on July 14, 1935:it brings together the Socialist Party, the Communist Party and the Radical Party in an "alliance of the middle classes with the working class" (Maurice Thorez).
- Non-revolutionary, the slogan of the Popular Front is "bread, peace, freedom", and its moderate program won the support of a large part of the population in the elections of April-May 1936.
- A vast movement of strikes is born following the dismissal of workers who had refused to work a 1 st May in Le Havre and Toulouse.
- The movement is rapidly spreading to the rest of the territory.
1936
Characters
Leon Blum
Maurice Thorez
Edouard Daladier
Leon Jouhaux
Procedure
The enthusiasm for the Popular Front's victory paradoxically led to distrust of the political class. Two million workers are mobilized. These strikes took on a new character:the workers occupied the premises (to neutralize production) but also adopted exemplary pacifist behavior (absence of destruction of equipment). Moreover, these strikes are not followed by brutal repression and take place in a fraternal state of mind. They overflow from the metallurgy sector to reach industry and even commerce (photographs of employees of Galeries Lafayette occupying the premises). Figure of the CGT and of a non-revolutionary movement, Léon Jouhaux strives to maintain dialogue with the government with a view to finding a peaceful way out of the crisis.
Negotiations between the unions and the government lead to the Matignon agreements of June 7, 1936, which lead to several social advances:
- salary increase;
- establishment of respect for trade union rights;
- embryo of employee representation with staff representatives;
- generalization of collective agreements.
The continuation of the strike movement leads to the granting of new rights aimed at improving the living conditions of workers:
- week of 40 hours per week;
- 15 days paid leave.
Consequences
- The Matignon agreements symbolically and legally mark a great advance in workers' rights.
- They arouse great hope within the working class:they constitute an ideal of humanism that affects many areas (culture, leisure).
- Economic difficulties, the government's counter-offensive and internal government dissension halted the reform dynamic of Léon Blum, who was to resign on June 20, 1937.