"The French trade union landscape is characterised by its fragmentation into eight competing confederations of various sizes, each representing different ideological and strategic positions. According to trade union figures, they have a combined membership of almost three million (including both workers and pensioners). According to the Ministry of Labour, 10.3 per cent of employees are organised (7.8 per cent in the private sector, 18.4 per cent in the public sector and state enterprises). These statistics show membership today to be 0.7 per cent less than it was in 2016 and put France as one of the European countries with the lowest level of union membership. Five major confederations are recognised as having the power to negotiate and with which state and employers' organisations can join in agreements at the national, occupational, and sectoral levels: Confédération française démocratique du travail (CFDT; French Democratic Confederation of Labour); Confédération générale du travail (CGT; General Confederation of Labour); Force ouvrière (FO; Worker's Force); Confédération française de l'encadrement – Confédération générale des cadres (CFE-CGC; French Confederation of Management – General Confederation of Executives); and Confédération française des travailleurs chrétiens (CFTC; French Confederations of Christian Workers). These organisations are also represented in most sectors and fare the best in company worker representation elections. Other relevant federations include the Union nationale des syndicats autonomes (UNSA; National Union of Autonomous Trade Unions), Union syndicale solidaires (Solidaires; Solidarity Trade Union Federation), and the Fédération syndicale unitaire (FSU; Unitary Trade Union Federation)..."

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