The protests in France have reached their peak so far: up to 1.6 million people demonstrated, and there were strikes at schools, hospitals and in transport. The unions are demanding a higher minimum wage and a reversal of the cuts.

On November 5th, the unions in France called for a general strike. Above all, they addressed workers from the public sector. However, much larger parts of the workforce took part. As of 1 p.m., the unions reported participation of 250,000 workers in around 70 locations. In total, the CGT union recorded almost 1.6 million participants in over 200 demonstrations; around 350,000 people are said to have taken part in Paris alone.

According to the Ministry of Education, around 13 percent of school staff took part, including 16 percent of teachers. About 19 percent of schools were affected by the strike. There were also restrictions at every third university. According to the Ministry of Health, only around 4 percent of employees in the healthcare sector are said to have gone on strike. In rail traffic, around four out of ten train connections were canceled.

Wages, pensions, cuts

As in Germany, the French government is planning billions in cuts next year. Meanwhile, they shouldexpenditurefor armaments doubled to 63.4 billion euros in a ten-year comparison from 2017 to 2027. The French unions are therefore demanding that the planned cuts be reversed and more money made available for public services. Large assets should also be taxed more heavily.

Day of action in France: 800,000 against the austerity policy

The demands also focus on increasing the minimum wage and pensions. "France is the European country where the minimum wage has increased the least in the last ten years. We are now a low-wage country," says the general secretary of the CGT union, Sophie Binet. The government's announced increase in the minimum wage by around 0.5 percent in January 2027 is not enough.

Meanwhile, France is in the middle of a presidential election campaign. Macron, the incumbent president, is far behind Marine Le Pen, who belongs to the fascist Rassemblement National party, with 13 percent approval. The presidential election will take place in around five months, and Macron will not be allowed to run again after his second term in office. It remains unclear whether he will be able to calm the political situation by then. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has announced a “social conference” for Monday to find an answer to the protesters’ demands.

Blockades and police violence

Young people also used the day of action to take part in over 260 demonstrations across the country. Students organized blockades at approximately 1,000 of the 3,700 high schools in France. There were also attacks on demonstrators. In the Paris suburb of La Courneuve, a young man attacked a student who was taking part in the blockade of a school,with a knifeand stabbed him.

The police were once again deployed during the protests with a large contingent of 70,000 officers, water cannons, armored vehicles, drones and helicopters. “This is a historic protest movement, but the government's only real response was to crack down with the police, so we had to take to the streets today,” a 30-year-old social worker from the southern suburbs of Paris told theGuardian.

Curfews and bans on demonstrations in France

“There are police everywhere, but where is the funding for the other public services?” Almost 450 people were said to have been arrested by 6 p.m. Among other things, there should also be onePress representativessuffered injuries during a police operation.

There is currently no end in sight to the repression against the trade union and youth movement. The Interior Minister recently commented on the police strategy and rejected calls for reduced weaponry. According to him, 22,000 tear gas grenades were used on October 17 alone, the largest day of protest since the movement began. Dozens of people were seriously injured.

The postGeneral strike in France: Hundreds of thousands demand higher wagesappeared firstperspective.