Jordan Bardella probably did not expect that the first controversy linked to his book, What I’m looking forerupts in SNCF stations. While the work of the president of the National Rally (RN) is due to be published by Fayard on November 9, the newspaper Liberation revealed, not without amazement, that Hachette, owner of Fayard, had rented 581 advertising panels in French stations. A common practice, managed by the advertising agency of the SNCFMediaTransports. But the latter was apparently not informed of the identity of the author and hastened to confide to Liberation son “embarrassment” facing this campaign.
If not informing advertisers of the identity of the author is a common practice, these political positions are much less common, especially on the part of a public company. MediaTransports did not hesitate to half-heartedly threaten to revoke this contract: “We will decide whether to maintain or withdraw the campaign based on criteria such as the political nature of the message or the disturbances to public order that may arise. » For the moment, and to the great annoyance of some, the SNCF specifies that it has not “no legal basis (which) would allow us to justify a refusal”as she explained to Liberation.
Political unions in the fight against the RN
Upon learning of this upcoming advertising campaign, the CGT union quickly published a virulent press release, written by Thierry Nier, general secretary of the CGT Cheminots federation. The latter recalls at length the anti-extreme right political commitment of the CGT before launching into a violent diatribe against the National Rally: “Racist, xenophobic, homophobic and sexist”accusations rained down on the leading party in France. The union official then ordered the SNCF to refuse to display advertisements for Jordan Bardella’s book: “I ask you to act by all means at your disposal to stop this provocation. »
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« Stations and Connection[…] refuses this poster campaign in the service of a far-right party”
But the prize for lyricism undoubtedly goes to the SUD-Rail union. In a concise press release, this anti-fascist union affirms that the SNCF group will promote“a party recognized and condemned for racist remarks, and everything that goes with it: oppression, discrimination, overexploitation and violence”. Before demanding with “force and gravity” that the SNCF “refuses this poster campaign in the service of a far-right party”. A position which is not surprising coming from this union, better known for its controversies than for its real commitment to workers. Its spokesperson, Anasse Kazib, is also the target of an investigation for advocating terrorism after comments about Israel. Fabien Villedieu, federal secretary of SUD-Rail, indicated that the union “will cover the posters” from Jordan Bardella’s book if these were broadcast in train stations.
Controversial positions
The positions taken by these two unions seem to be much more an ideological and political battle than the defense of the workers that these associations are supposed to represent. Thus, through these press releases and their fight against a political party, SUD Rail and the CGT blithely transgress the criteria of union representativeness defined by the legislator. One of these criteria stipulates that unions must respect republican values. Values of which “respect for political freedom, as well as the refusal of all discrimination”.
By recognizing that they are engaging in a fight against a party that represents more than 10 million French people, and by identifying themselves as opponents of a democratic political movement, these unions seem to be turning away from this obligation to respect political freedom. . And indirectly discriminate against supporters and members of the National Rally.
How unions advertise (free) Jordan Bardella’s book
Once the SNCF has received the visuals of the book, teams will be responsible for verifying that the posters do not contravene public service obligations, and in particular those of the “political neutrality”. If it is decided that advertisements cannot be displayed, Hachettes Editions may modify them in order to make them comply with regulations. While the controversy linked to these posters continues to increase, the president of the National Rally probably did not think he could count on these two unions to advertise his work. Perfect illustration of the Streisand effect, or how to obtain the opposite result of the desired effect.
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