Reinforced by some of the local sections of Unef and members of its national leadership, the student union L’Alternative announced on Tuesday the creation of the Student Union, a new organization.
The creation of the Student Union must be officially ratified at a congress on April 22 and 23, Eléonore Schmitt, spokesperson for L’Alternative, told AFP, a union itself resulting from a split in the ‘UNEF in 2019. After the social mobilization against the pension reform, in which L’Alternative was active, “the responsibility we have is great, because we must be able to offer a trade union and political outlet for this mobilization- there,” she said. “For that, there is a lack of a large union capable of structuring and organizing the students. »
A split after an “internal crisis” at Unef
“Today, the forces of Unef who are still making the movement, who are active on a daily basis, are choosing to join us,” she continued. Asked by AFP, the management of Unef did not respond. According to Eléonore Schmitt, this new union will be present in some “51 establishments” against “about thirty or forty” currently for L’Aternative. “The sections of the Unef which join us”, ie “17 for the moment out of about forty”, represent “almost half of the organization”, she added. “We recover the most active sections such as Unef Sciences-Po, Unef Aix-Marseille, Unef-Lille. »
This creation follows an “internal crisis” within the Unef, with members who “have suffered pressure and violence from the presidency of the Unef”, and “beyond the problems at the of internal democracy and a withdrawal of the apparatus,” she explained.