Trade union participation in the environmental management of companies: between responsibility and utopia. The case of the CFDT and the CGT (1970-2002).

Summary This thesis aims to shed light on a double paradox between trade unions, management and the environment, based on a longitudinal study. We reconstitute from trade union archives the process that allowed trade unions and more precisely confederations to acquire legitimacy on environmental issues from the 1970s. In response to the absurdities of society and because of their responsibility towards the employees they defend, they set up environmental union policies which, although irregular, allow support for the action of activists for the preservation of jobs, the living conditions of employees in the company (health, safety) and outside the company. Their expertise, which is partly overshadowed by the power of the players around them, enables them to make regular proposals to institutional decision-makers, in particular for a legal framework that is conducive to environmental dialogue. They thus participate in the construction of the first sustainable development report in 2001. Beyond the construction of a union history, this thesis contributes to the definition of the concept of participation in management and environmental management (Richard, 2012).