Hundreds of thousands of people joined anti-austerity protests across France on Thursday, urging President Emmanuel Macron and his new Prime Minister Sebastian Lecorne to acknowledge the rage and looming budget cuts.
Teachers, train drivers, pharmacists and hospital staff were among those who continued to strike as part of the day of protest, but teenagers blocked dozens of high schools.
Protesters are asking people to work longer to acquire pensions because of the scrapping of previous government financial plans, increased spending on public services, higher taxes on the wealthy, and reversing unpopular changes.
“Block high school against austerity,” read the placards raised by students in front of Lycee Maurice Ravel High School.
“The rage is huge, so is determination. This is my message to Mr. Recorne today. It’s the same as what we have to decide on the budget,” says CGT Union Head Sophie Vignette, who screams for Macron’s new prime minister to put together next year’s budget and gather a new government.
Vignette said 400,000 people attended more morning rallies across France, including one in Paris.
Macron and Lecorne are under pressure from protesters and left-wing parties to oppose budget cuts, and on the other hand, from investors interested in the eurozone’s second-largest economic deficit. The Congress is deeply divided, with no majority in either of its three major groups.
“This is a warning and a clear warning to Sebastien Lecornu,” CFDT union president Marylise Leon said of the protest on Thursday. “We want a socially fair budget,” she said.
An interior ministry source said earlier this week that as many as 800,000 people are expected to take part in the strike and protests.
The FSU-Snuipp Union said one in three primary school teachers are on strike nationwide, and one in two left their jobs in Paris.
Although regional trains were heavily affected, most of the country’s high-speed TGV train routes were working, officials said. Protesters gathered to slow traffic on the highway near the southeast city of Toulon.
There have been several clashes over the margins of a protest rally in the western city of Nantes, and police fired tear gas and in Lyon, where French media said three people were injured.
“Now, workers are being so lightly spouted by this government and (President Emmanuel) Macron that they cannot actually continue like this,” Fred, a bus driver and union representative, said at a rally in front of a high school in Paris where students were blocked.
France’s budget deficit last year was nearly double the EU’s 3% ceiling, but as he wants to reduce it, Lecornes will rely on other parties to drive legislation — and will face a fight to garner Parliamentary support for the 2026 budget.
Lecornu’s predecessor, Francois Bayrou, was banished by Congress last week over a budget-setting plan of 44 billion euros. The new prime minister has yet to say what he will do with Bayrou’s plan, but he has shown a willingness to compromise.
Around 80,000 police and gender moose were set to be deployed throughout the day, including riot units, drones and armored vehicles. Police said more than 90 people had already been arrested in various locations.
