The embattled French president is facing two overlapping protest movements and an approval rating of less than 20%<\/p>\n
A series of mass protests has gripped France ahead of the French government\u2019s plans to slash some \u20ac56 billion from its social spending.\u00a0
\nFirefighters, healthcare workers, transport staff and other civil servants took part in a nationwide strike on Tuesday, backed by all of the country\u2019s major public-sector unions. More than 170 marches were planned across France, with demonstrators blocking roads and scuffling with police in Paris, and firefighters setting flares alight atop the iconic July Column at the Place de la Bastille \u2013 built to commemorate the overthrow of King Charles X in 1830. French students also clashed with police outside schools across the country.<\/p>\n
Une Marseillaise est entonn\u00e9e par les pompiers sur la place de la Bastille \u00e0 Paris.#greve29septembre #29septembre #pompiers pic.twitter.com\/fbvrjx9RrO\u2014 Luc Auffret (@LucAuffret) September 29, 2026 <\/p>\n
The protesters\u2019 demands are familiar: higher wages, better working conditions, and more funding for public services. However, while public sector employees have accused President Emmanuel Macron\u2019s government of underfunding and dismantling their departments for years, they argue that their situation has recently been made unbearable by record fuel prices and wages that have failed to keep pace with inflation.
\nFrance has raised public sector pay by 5% since Macron took power in 2017, while cumulative inflation has risen 24% in the same time period.<\/p>\n
The SNUipp-FSU teachers\u2019 union has claimed that 40% of primary school teachers are on strike, while one in four firefighters have walked off the job, according to government estimates. France\u2019s left-wing CGT union described the day\u2019s strikes as a \u201cblack day,\u201d intended to \u201ctruly express our anger.\u201d<\/p>\n
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French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu is set to unveil \u20ac54 billion ($62 billion) worth of cutbacks in his 2027 budget on Thursday. Lecornu denies that he has drafted an \u201causterity\u201d budget, but left-wing politician Jean-Luc Melenchon, a supporter of the strikes, has said that it would only heighten unrest, and has vowed to undo the budget and cancel government debt if elected president next year.
\nMacron, who has served two terms and cannot contest April\u2019s election, is currently polling at less than 18% approval, according to an Ifop poll published earlier this month. Although the French president has seen worse approval numbers in other polls, 18% is an historic low in an Ifop survey.
\nTuesday\u2019s strikes are compounded by a growing student protest movement. High school students complaining about overcrowded and neglected classrooms have blockaded more than 300 schools in multiple cities, according to media reports.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\ud83c\uddeb\ud83c\uddf7 A major fire has struck Aim\u00e9-C\u00e9saire High School in France following a blaze deliberately set by high school students.Follow: @europa pic.twitter.com\/n0UYs2SEi8\u2014 Europa.com (@europa) September 28, 2026 <\/p>\n
The students \u2013 predominantly black and Middle-Eastern teenagers from deprived suburbs \u2013 set dumpsters on fire outside a school in Lille on Monday and clashed with police in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis. In some areas, the protests have degenerated into riots, with youths shooting fireworks and engaging in running battles with riot police.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\ud83c\uddeb\ud83c\uddf7 Police in Lyon, France, are targeted with mortar fire by high school students during clashes outside a school.Follow: @europa pic.twitter.com\/K3klBV2mHS\u2014 Europa.com (@europa) September 29, 2026 <\/p>\n
Police arrested 164 students and rioters on Monday, and at least 40 on Tuesday, according to the latest figures from French media.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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