French Protests Swell as Unions Join Strikes Over Cost of Living, Wages

By Thursday evening, as darkness settled over Paris, Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu announced he would convene a "social conference" of unions and employers on Monday. The announcement came at the end of a day in which, by the interior ministry's count, more than 600,000 people marched and rallied across France.

The unions counted differently. The left-wing CGT put turnout at 1.57 million and called it a level not matched since 2023, pointing to large demonstrations in Paris, Marseille, Bordeaux and Lille. Five unions took part in the day of action, which brought together public and private sector workers, pensioners and young people. Their central demand is a rise in the minimum wage, the Smic, now €12.31 an hour (about £10). Marylise Léon, who leads the CFDT, said her union wants a net increase of €100 a month.

The movement began in September over poor conditions and resources at the lycées, the high schools for 15-to-18-year-olds. It spread to universities and workers, and a revived gilets jaunes movement, the yellow-vest revolt against high prices, joined in. Alice De Brito, vice-president of the Unef student union, told the BBC the cause had widened: it is no longer only about education and higher education, but about all of France's public services.

The unions had promised to take their coordinated action against the government "to the next level." CGT chief Sophie Binet said the only thing that would halt the mobilisation was a response to its demands. At the start of a march in central Paris she told reporters protesters had reached a new level and wanted immediate answers.

The strikes disrupted daily life. The education ministry said 16% of teachers walked out, while the unions said more than one in four lycées and the vast majority of universities were affected. Government figures put civil-servant participation at an estimated 9.89%. Schools, hospitals and public transport were disrupted, and the Eiffel Tower and some exhibition rooms at the Louvre closed. Workers at oil refineries were asked to halt production, and France was expected to import more electricity than it produced because of disruption at nuclear plants.

Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez had deployed 70,000 police and promised "an extremely firm response" to any violence. He had named three risks: radical-left black bloc groups, looting, and wildcat marches without union authorisation. Some unrest followed. In Lyon, a car was set alight near the Gallieni bridge over the Rhône as hundreds of black bloc activists clashed with police. In Rennes, the local prefect described a "hostile group of masked individuals" gathered in front of the main union march. Police used tear gas to clear a square in Bordeaux, and a teenager was hurt in a stabbing involving a student at a high-school blockade in Seine-Saint-Denis, north of Paris.

That was well short of Saturday 17 October, the last major day of protest, when more than 2,000 stores were looted and historic buildings set on fire. Provisional figures for Thursday still exceeded that day, which had been the biggest until now: the ministry then counted 550,000 and the unions 800,000. The Paris march was permitted, but not along the unions' proposed route from Bastille to Concorde, which would have passed near the National Assembly, the Élysée Palace and the prime minister's residence at Hôtel Matignon. It ran instead from Place de la République to Place de la Nation.

The government has tried to ease anger over prices by releasing 10 million barrels of diesel from strategic reserves to lower fuel costs, and has promised students it will reform the unpopular Parcoursup admissions platform and replace it by 2028. Lecornu said Monday's conference would seek answers on purchasing power and wages. But by its own admission the government has little room to manoeuvre, as it hunts for tens of billions of euros in savings to bring the budget deficit down to 5% of GDP. The yellow vests have already called for more blockades and protests on Friday and Saturday.