France national strike day over budget and cost of living, Digi Mart USA News (France): Marches began across France on Thursday in a day of large demonstrations and a national strike called by trade unions, with participation from the yellow vest movement, students and workers from several sectors.
Authorities expect strong turnout, with 500,000 to 700,000 people in the streets, including 40,000 to 80,000 in the capital. Health and education staff, air traffic controllers, railway workers, dockers and La Poste employees are expected to join.
Some 70,000 police officers and gendarmes have also been deployed.
The mobilization follows the rejection by lawmakers of the first part of the 2027 draft budget, in a cross-party consensus. The government’s original budget must now be examined by the Senate, with a vote scheduled for December 9.
A parliamentary committee will then attempt to reach a compromise before the text returns to the National Assembly.
France has seen protests for several weeks, triggered by student mobilizations that began in mid-September against overcrowded classrooms, a shortage of teachers and problems with university admission. The movement has since grown, with unions backing student demands and taking to the streets to protest the cost-of-living crisis and rising fuel prices.
Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez announced that more than 70,000 security personnel would be deployed on Thursday. He said the “main mission” of security forces was to ensure the demonstrations proceed “calmly” and “without incidents.” He said intelligence services had identified “considerable” interest from the far-left movement and violent groups, which could seek to provoke disorder, organize unauthorized marches, or carry out looting and vandalism against shops or public buildings.
Authorities restricted the route initially proposed by unions for the Paris demonstration, approving an alternative route from Place de la République to Place de la Nation. The decision comes as part of stronger security measures the government adopted after violence on October 17 and 18, when largely peaceful marches were marred by violence and looting.
Meanwhile, unions and rights organizations have denounced what they describe as excessive policing and “authoritarian” measures aimed at restricting demonstrations. French police also face criticism over accusations of excessive use of force against protesters.
With the presidential election less than six months away in the spring, the government of President Emmanuel Macron is trying to pass its 2027 budget in a Parliament without an absolute majority. The plan includes a series of austerity measures against a backdrop of a serious debt and public deficit crisis.
Marine Le Pen of the National Rally currently leads in polls, with Jean-Luc Mélenchon, leader of La France insoumise, in second place.
France’s economic situation has worried financial markets and prompted pressure from the European Union. The main unions condemned the budget in a statement published Thursday, saying it “worsens the situation by targeting the most vulnerable and sick people, freezing social benefits and undermining the protective role of the social security system.”
On October 26, the government presented a series of education reforms in response to student protests, including 4 billion euros in preferential-rate loans for school renovation and the creation of 15,000 additional university places between 2027 and 2028. Student organizations, however, consider these measures insufficient, calling them barely more than “window dressing.” They demand 10 billion euros in direct investment in school infrastructure, while some unions advocate creating 250,000 additional university places.
Soaring energy prices are also fueling public discontent amid a global fuel supply shock linked to the Middle East conflict and the closure of the crucial Strait of Hormuz. The crisis has also led French lawmakers to criticize energy companies for record profits as households face higher costs.
On November 1, the government began releasing 10 million barrels of diesel from its strategic reserves. It then pointed to fuel price declines at thousands of service stations.
Economy Minister Roland Lescure said on Wednesday on BFMTV that prices had fallen by an average of 15 cents per liter of diesel, with the decline reaching 20 cents per liter at more than 3,000 service stations. The French Union of Petroleum Industries and Mobility (UFIP) reports more than 10,000 service stations nationwide.
