Tens of thousands of civil servants, including teachers, firefighters and healthcare workers, have marched in cities across France to demand higher pay, as students clashed with the police in separate protests over conditions at their schools. Unions said some 300,000 people took part in the one-day strike action nationwide, while police on Tuesday estimated a turnout of 30,000 in the capital, Paris. The workers also demanded better working conditions and expressed anger at the government’s planned budget cuts.
Protests also took place at more than 400 schools, about 40 of which were blockaded and 44 of which faced attempted blockades. Ten people, both students and staff members, were wounded, and at least 440 were detained, officials said. The strikes and the student unrest came two days before the government is to unveil its draft budget and seven months before the presidential election.
According to unions, the government proposes freezing base salaries for state employees in 2027 to save 2 billion euros ($2.3bn). It would be the fourth consecutive annual freeze and the eighth during President Emmanuel Macron’s tenure. Unions say the freezes have cost workers a double-digit share of their purchasing power, and they are demanding a 6 percent raise.
Sophie Binet, general secretary of the General Confederation of Labor, called the protests “a red alert”. The government must look again at the budget,” she told Al Jazeera. She gave the government 48 hours to reverse the planned cuts before her union decides on further strike action.
The Education Ministry said just more than 11 percent of teachers and other school staff went on strike. French teachers are paid less on average than their counterparts in other European countries. Fewer than 1 in 10 other civil servants took part, and fewer still in hospitals, with the loss of a day’s pay a likely factor in the turnout.
France’s civil aviation regulator had warned of flight disruptions at some airports. Professional firefighters, who say this summer’s huge wildfires exposed a lack of resources, were among those marching. The government has already unveiled measures to help households cope with a spike in energy prices driven by the United States and Israel’s war on Iran, but it has failed to quell the discontent with Macron and his administration.
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