Federation for National Education

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The Federation of the National Education (Fédération de l'Education nationale or FEN) was a French federation of teaching unions.

It succeeded to the General Federation of Teaching (Fédération générale de l'enseignement) founded in 1929 and affiliated to the General Confederation of Labour (Confédération générale du travail or CGT). After the World War II, became the FEN, it left the CGT in order to preserve its unity. Indeed, at this moment, the reformist wing of the confederation created Workers' Force.

The FEN was dominated by the group called "Unity, independence and democracy" close to the Socialists. The minoritary groups were "Unity and action", influenced by the Communists, and "Emancipated school" near the far-left.

The FEN was nicknamed the "fortress of teachers" and advocated the secular teaching. Its powerful and its capacity of mobilization were dreaded by the public powers. But it died in due to its political divisions.

Indeed, at the beginning of the 1990s, faced with the growth of "Unity and action", the Socialsit majority wanted to gather the reformist trade unions. The unions dominated by "Unity and action" were ejected and founded the United Trade Union Federation (Fédération syndicale unitaire or FSU).

The FEN and other reformist unions of civil servants created the National Union of Autonomous Trade Unions (Union nationale des syndicats autonomes or UNSA). In 2000, the FEN became UNSA Education.

However, UNSA Education is today minoritary in the teaching world and largely surpassed by the FSU.