French union confederation membership falls sharply

The CFDT, the largest union confederation in France, lost 6.4% of its membership last year. It had 818,000 members at the end of 2004, down from 874,000 at the end of 2003.

The confederation said that some 30,200 members left in protest against its support for government policy on pensions, while a further 10,400 retired.

This was the second year running that the CFDT lost members, after a sustained period of growth.

The confederation accepts that "the balance is sombre", but it is encouraged by growth in the service sector and it has trained 200 "developers" to improve recruitment.