AXEL PERSSON
Axel Persson was born in Sweden in 1989, from a Swedish father and a mother from Madagascar. He has lived throughout his childhood in Sweden, Madagascar, Vietnam before settling in France at the age of 16. He is a member of the french trade union CGT (Confederation Generale du Travail), the oldest and most powerful class-oriented trade union in France that was founded in 1895. The CGT was founded as the merger of several existing trade union federations, uniting under a common umbrella, heavily influenced at its beginnings by the anarcho-syndicalist movement. Ulterior historical developments – most notably the Russian revolution in 1917 – led to the growing influence of bolschevik communists within the CGT, most notably within the railway industry.
After having worked in different branches at a young age, Axel Persson got recruited in the railway industry in the national french railway train operating company SNCF (Societe nationale des chemins de fer) in march 2008 at the age of 19, where he first worked as station staff in Austerlitz train station in Paris. He successfully applied internally for the Traction course in January 2011 to become a train driver in February 2012 after the year long training and graduation. After which he was sent to the trainyard in the city of Trappes, located in the southwestern suburbs of Paris, approximately 25 km from Paris.
Axel Persson got elected as general secretary of the CGT Railwayworkers union in Trappes in January 2016 and was re-elected in that position in January 2023. He is also a member of the CGT Yvelines Regional Department Executive Committee. He has held positions as elected worker’s representatives almost continiously since 2009 and has always put emphasis on remaining a a train driver, driving suburban/regional trains on the line N and U of the « Transilien » network in the wider Paris area.
He has participated and led many local and national strikes in the railway. He is also active in implementing and building up new trade unions in industries and branches within the private sector, beyond the railway.
Axel Persson is also a member of the World Federation of Trade Unions youth committee, elected during the last youth congress in Rome.
Axel Persson tries to keep to the best of his abilities “a cold mind, warm heart and clean hands”.
He puts emphasis on the importance for rank and file workers to educate themselves in all aspects of history, politics, economy and philosophy, highlighting the importance of understanding the marxist theory on the creation of surplus-value and grasping the concept of dialectical materialism for all working class political cadres.
Axel Persson speaks Swedish, English, French and has a good command of the German Language. He can understand and communicate on a basic level in other languages as well.
