U
nion mobilizations at the start of the school year are a recurring event each fall. But the strikes and protests on Thursday, September 18, were unlike any the country had seen in recent years. Amid widespread discontent and a political crisis triggered by the lack of a parliamentary majority since the dissolution of the Assemblée Nationale in June 2024, the goal was neither to demand a specific reform or oppose a particular minister's project, but to denounce the injustices of the draft 2026 budget outlined by former prime minister François Bayrou – a plan already rendered obsolete. For his successor, Sébastien Lecornu, who had yet to form his government or announce his main budgetary priorities, it was a second warning after the less powerful "Block Everything" protest movement on September 10.
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French protestors caught between anger and disillusionment
The eight labor unions, united for the first time since the 2023 pension reform protests, brought together 500,000 people, according to the Interior Ministry (more than one million, according to the CGT union) and managed to march without any major incidents. This success made them indispensable interlocutors for the prime minister as he seeks a compromise that could lift the country out of its budget deadlock.
