French unions are preparing one of the biggest strike days in recent years, aiming to pressure new prime minister Sebastien Lecornu to rethink budget cuts and address wages, pensions, and public services. Police expect about 800,000 people to march nationwide, with 80,000 officers deployed. Schools, rail lines, and airports are braced for disruption as French unions present a rare united front across sectors.
The scale recalls the mass demonstrations of 2023, when the government raised the pension age to 64 without a parliamentary vote. Union leaders say the political crisis has deepened since then and that French unions must now defend living standards as prices rise and services strain. Perrine Mohr of the moderate CFDT argued on local radio that policy since 2017 has favored business through tax relief and unconditional support, and that the next government must be more pro worker and pro citizen.
The strikes arrive amid a turbulent reshuffle in Paris. President Emmanuel Macron last week named Lecornu as the third prime minister in a year after parliament ousted Francois Bayrou and Michel Barnier during bitter budget fights. Lecornu, who served as defense minister in the previous two cabinets, begins with low approval ratings and must persuade opponents that he represents a genuine break from the past. He inherits a minority landscape after the June snap election split parliament among the left, the far right, and the center, leaving no absolute majority and repeated deadlock over spending plans.
Lecornu faces a tight deadline to produce a new budget and form a workable cabinet. Bayrou’s package had included a 44 billion euro squeeze intended to reduce public debt, along with a proposal to eliminate two public holidays. Lecornu says he will drop the holiday idea, yet French unions fear other elements such as a broad welfare freeze could survive in revised form. That concern is a major driver of the mobilization called by French unions for Thursday.
French unions call mass strikes as political crisis
On Wednesday, Lecornu consulted opposition parties while sketching his fiscal approach. He is expected to keep cooperation channels open with Les Republicains on the traditional right and maintain pro business priorities that defined earlier Macron era policies. To survive possible no confidence votes, however, he will need at least a truce with the Socialists. Their leaders demanded an end to harsh cuts, fairer contributions from the wealthiest, and practical relief for households. They warned that if Lecornu refuses to listen, they could join efforts to topple his government. Marine Le Pen of National Rally offered her own stark assessment, saying that if current policies continue, the prime minister will fall.
Fiscal pressure is real. France’s deficit sits near twice the European Union ceiling of 3 percent and debt is about 114 percent of GDP. Fitch recently downgraded the country’s credit rating, citing political instability. Against that backdrop, French unions believe a strong turnout is the best way to influence the budget before it arrives in parliament. Whether Lecornu can turn consultations into a viable compromise will depend on how he answers the street, how much he concedes to French unions, and how quickly he can offer a credible plan that protects services without triggering another showdown.
