France faces nationwide strikes and mass protests over wages and budget cuts

Nationwide strike and rallies

Trade unions led by the CGT called a nationwide strike on Thursday, 5 November, and crowds gathered in Paris and other large French cities. Marches started in Marseille, Lyon and Nantes during the morning, and the main Paris march was scheduled to begin at 14:00 from Place de la République. Reports put the number of rallies at more than 250, and the authorities expect between 40,000 and 80,000 people in Paris and between 500,000 and 700,000 elsewhere in the country. The action follows several weekends of mass demonstrations, and student groups and the yellow vest movement have also mobilised. Some protesters in Lyon wore face masks or safety glasses as a precaution against tear gas.

Schools and transport

High school pupils built barricades from rubbish bins outside their schools in several cities, and police moved in to clear some blockades. Der Standard and N-tv report that police used tear gas in Paris. The figures on school closures differ by source. ČT24 reports more than 1,000 high schools closed in connection with the strike, with another 81 blocked by students. El Confidencial reports that the education ministry counted about 80 blocked institutes, or 2.2% of the total, while unions put the number near 1,000 of the 3,700 institutes. The ministry calculated strike participation at 17.54% on Wednesday, whereas the SNES-FSU union said 52% of staff had stopped work on Thursday. Regional rail services suffered delays and cancellations, and RTE reported that the strike had already contributed to a drop in French nuclear output early in the day.

Policing and October's riots

Authorities deployed around 70,000 police nationwide, and Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said any violence or looting would meet a firm response. Nuñez has acknowledged that security forces were overwhelmed on 17 October, when riots and looting damaged shops and public buildings across the country. N-tv reports that about 3,000 shops were damaged or looted over the previous weekends. Several local authorities banned rallies in city centres to prevent looting. In Paris, El Confidencial and N-tv describe an approved route from Bastille to Nation that avoids the centre, while La Vanguardia reports that a classic route through the city centre was authorised this time.

Demands and government response

The unions want the minimum wage raised from €12.31 an hour, general pay increases and a revision of the government's draft budget. CGT leader Sophie Binet put the core demand directly:

“We want two things: wage increases everywhere”

She also called the draft budget catastrophic for the country in its current form. Macron announced a cut in fuel duty on Monday, 2 November, and said in a post on X that diesel was now more than ten cents per litre cheaper, crediting 10 million barrels released from strategic reserves in October. Education Minister Édouard Geffray said some job cuts in schools would be scrapped. According to ČT24, the government has promised a partial response to student demands and will present minimum-wage measures on Friday, 6 November. Four French rail unions warned in a joint statement that the budget cuts would worsen poverty and freeze state workers' salaries.