the essential
The dean of the CFDT of Tarn-et-Garonne was treated to a wonderful birthday party on Wednesday, at the market station.
Lucien Debaig, dean of the CFDT of Tarn-et-Garonne, is almost the same age as the CFTC which became CFDT! He was born on December 19, 1924, 5 years after the creation of the CFTC, when his parents, the Béarnais Jacques Debaig and the Montalbanaise Marie-Louise Birou, settled in the Birac district in Montauban.
Lucien is a pure autodidact. He attended school until the certificate of studies and will be exempted after his military training in Caylus, he joins as an apprentice mechanic in a garage on rue de l’abbaye in Montauban (garage still standing, like him!). He was hired after the liberation of Montauban by the FFI (which constituted the general staff at this moment in history) on November 6, 1944 as a sheet metal boilermaker. Began a long career within the ALAT (Light Aviation of the Army) with validated service records from June 30, 1947. In 1952, he was a worker in the General Service and received 131.35 FF per month. In the meantime, he got married in 1946 with the help of the commander who lent him his company Peugeot 402 for the ceremony. Six children were born from this union: Marie-Thérèse, the eldest, also a retired CFDT member, then Nicole then Jean-Luc (unfortunately deceased) then Catherine then Philippe and finally Véronique, the only child still active!). In 1964 (his life changes every 20 years!) he did an internship in Bourges and returned to Montauban as a boilermaker trainer at the Ministry of Defense and in 1973 he had all the skills to work on any type of metal, which, in aviation, is a godsend for his employer. 1964 was also the birth of the CFDT and he was the first secretary of the union section in Montauban.
In 1980, on the occasion of the visit of the President of the Republic Giscard d’Estaing to the Caylus camp, a mast for colors was installed. Except for one detail: its length does not allow it to be transported on site in its entirety. It is therefore Lucien who, on site, will weld the elements of the mast so that everything is ready on the big day.
Retired since 1982, still independent, he was, among other things, invited 41 years after his retirement to visit the workshops in which he worked almost all his professional life… and found change: numerically controlled machine tools, latest devices generation… and elevators!
Always cheerful and invited to the CFDT Council in December of this year: “We’ll come and pick you up. Where is it? At the market station. Ah, I can go there by bike then!”.
See you later, Lucien!
