Democratic Union of Labour

The Democratic Union of Labor (Union démocratique du travail, UDT) was a French political party founded in 1959 for left-wing Gaullists at the beginning of the French Fifth Republic. Initially, it united activists for the independence of Algeria, progressive on economic and social issues compared to the dominant Gaullist movement, the Union for the New Republic (UNR).^[1]

Democratic Union of Labor
Founders	Louis Vallon René Capitant Jacques Debû-Bridel
Founded	14
Dissolved	10
Ideology	Left-wing Gaullism Laborism Third Way Workers representation Sovereigntism Progressivism
Political position	Center to Center-left

Laborist advocates of capital and labor partnership, led by its general secretary through the party's life, René Capitant, and Louis Vallon. It formed the only left-wing movement that fully embraced the new institutions.

The UDT partnered with the UNR for the 1962 legislative elections and later merged with it to create the UNR-UDT, despite growing opposition among its members to Georges Pompidou, in the hope of establishing the left-wing faction of Gaullism.

Press organ

The UDT published Notre République, edited by Frédéric Grendel. The publication stood out for its quality and vigor compared to the journal of the "official" Gaullist faction, La Nation.