France unions call nationwide strikes and demonstrations on 5 November 2026

France faces a nationwide day of strikes and demonstrations on 5 November 2026 after the country’s major trade unions called workers out across multiple sectors. Students and secondary-school pupils are also joining planned actions as unions push for higher wages and protections for public services.

Unions demand wage rises, defend public services

The left-leaning CGT union has called for a 10 percent increase in the statutory minimum wage — to just above €2,000 gross — arguing that higher pay is the quickest way to restore purchasing power and stimulate the domestic economy. "We need a change of policy: to abandon supply-side economics, which costs us huge sums while sacrificing jobs and workers," CGT general secretary Sophie Binet told France 2. "We need a demand-led policy. We must raise wages to boost domestic consumption. Spain did exactly that and its economy is growing while debts are falling."

Strikes are expected in key public and transport services, with education, rail, air-traffic control and hospitals among the sectors planning work stoppages. Railway operators warned of disruption to regional services around Paris and of "minor disturbances" on long-distance routes.

Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said authorities had deployed 70,000 police and gendarmes nationwide, including specialist units, mirroring security levels used during recent weekends. "We will of course protect shops and public buildings. The starting situation is a little different because the calls for protest come from the unions, which is a more classic scenario," he said. "But there is an intention for the situation to get out of control. If that happens, we will react with the greatest determination."

Organisers are also seeking to build a wider convergence of protest movements: pupils and students dissatisfied with government responses have joined union calls, and elements of the Yellow Vest movement have been coordinating actions. For union leaders, joining the different currents is a deliberate tactic to broaden the mobilisation.

In Paris the unions planned a march from Place de la Bastille to Place de la Concorde, close to the National Assembly and the Élysée Palace. The prefecture of police forbade that specific route and proposed an alternative that still passes through central areas. The unions appealed to the Paris Administrative Court, which on the evening of 4 November rejected the complaint, referring to an "extremely tense social situation" and noting that the route change was "neither inappropriate nor disproportionate." Today's turnout, particularly among employees, will be watched as a barometer for how sustained the protests may become.

Photo: press material from the event