Force Ouvrière was founded in 1948 by former members of the General Confederation of Labor (CGT) who denounced the dominance of the French Communist Party over that federation.

After World War II, members of the French Communist Party attained considerable influence within the CGT, controlling 21 of its 30 federations.

In May 1947, the Communist ministers were excluded from the government led by Paul Ramadier, a Socialist, because they were incapable to quell the ultimately victorious strike in the biggest factory in France, the Renault car plant in Boulogne-Billancourt.

[1][2] In 1963, when André Bergeron became leader of the Confederation, the links between FO and the French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO) became distended.

Indeed, if Bergeron was an SFIO member for a short period, he was also a hardcore reformist who believed firmly in "social agreement" with the employers and the De Gaulle right-wing government.

Fearing an integration of the unions into the state, they were the only confederation to call for a "No" vote in the 1969 referendum, which lead to the defeat and the final resignation of De Gaulle from power.

In consequence, FO lost the precedence of social security offices for the benefit of the Confédération Française Démocratique du Travail.

In April 2018, Pascal Pavageau, which presents himself as being part of the historical and traditional Workers' Force trend (independence of trade unions towards the political parties) became the new secretary general.

In his expose on The Saturday Evening Post, Braden wrote of the CGT strike: "Into this crisis stepped [Jay] Lovestone and his assistant, Irving Brown.