France proposes minimum index hike for 400,000 public workers as unions walk out

Targeted index hike for low-wage agents

French Minister of Public Accounts David Amiel proposed on Friday, 2 October 2026, to raise the civil service minimum pay index from 1 January 2027. Under French law, the government must provide a differential allowance to public sector employees whose index-based income is lower than the statutory minimum wage (Smic), a group that numbers 862,000 people in 2026. The executive's stated objective is to lift approximately 400,000 public agents out of this category by establishing a base salary above the statutory minimum. For the remaining workers receiving the differential allowance, the operation will remain neutral on immediate gross remuneration, as the index increase replaces the compensatory allowance. Amiel noted that this conversion will benefit retirement pensions, as index pay factors directly into civil service pension calculations.

For these agents, it is a matter of replacing a catch-up indemnity with index pay.

Step adjustments and the purchasing power gap

The ministry coupled the minimum index hike with permanent additions of index points across the initial pay grades. According to the government, these adjustments aim to restore the financial value of seniority and step-by-step career advancement for low-tier employees. The proposal was presented one day after the publication of the 2027 draft budget bill, which confirmed a freeze on the baseline civil service index point. Public sector pay had previously been frozen under an announcement made in mid-September 2026, prompting unions to call a nationwide day of mobilization. On Tuesday, 29 September 2026, approximately 200,000 demonstrators took to the streets across France to protest pay erosion.

This increase will be accompanied by permanent injections of index points into the first salary steps, to begin restoring value to career progression and seniority.

Walkouts and boycott at Bercy

Civil service trade unions rejected the ministerial measures during Friday's discussions at Bercy. Representatives from CGT, FSU, and Solidaires ended their participation early, walking out of the negotiation room before the session concluded. CGT representative Damien Martinez stated that the proposals amounted to window-dressing and half-measures that fell far short of union expectations. Force Ouvrière (FO) chose a different strategy and boycotted the Bercy meeting entirely rather than participating in the talks. FO leader Christian Grolier denounced the consultation as a masquerade and argued that genuine negotiations with the executive did not exist.

Whether we were present or not changed nothing because negotiations with the government do not exist.

Salary scale compression

CFDT representative Laure Revel remained until the end of the meeting to review the ministry's presentation in detail. Revel stated that the proposed adjustments were inadequate and failed to resolve the compression of civil service salary scales. Revel noted that the measures did not offer a broad solution for employees who have seen their relative pay advantages erode across consecutive pay bands. Insee figures show that cumulative inflation between 2017 and the end of 2026 will reach 24.17%, while the index point rose only 3.5% in 2022 and 1.5% in 2023, representing a total increase slightly above 5%. Following the meeting, inter-union leaders warned that additional days of public sector strikes and street demonstrations remain under consideration.