ABSTRACT
In Force Ouvrière's (FO) view the crisis, which the escalation of oil prices brought into the open, is structural in essence and stems from a disequilibrium on a world scale. While it hopes that the Western economies can return to growth rates of the past, FO accepts that the present crisis sets limits on trade union objectives. In a crisis period collective agreements are well suited to a reformist strategy. Paradoxically the crisis consolidated FO's position, because the confederation was not forced to alter its strategy as defined several years previously. In sum, the first two months of the new regime were a period of watchful waiting for FO; until the June 1981 legislative elections FO's attitude was on the whole positive with respect to the government's major orientations. The guiding thread of FO’s attitude since the summer of 1982 is vigilance that the conditions which permit its type of trade union practice are maintained.
