October 1 strikes in France… latest on trains and schools
Protest coincides with a major policy address by the prime minister
Unions are protesting pension reform (pictured in 2023), but say they will listen to Prime Minister Michel Barnier’s policy address
HJBC / Alexandros Michailidis / Shutterstock
Several unions representing university students, rail workers and school teachers are on strike today (October 1). The protests coincide with a major policy address by Prime Minister Michel Barnier.
The strikes come in response to both the economic situation of France and to the appointment of Michel Barnier as prime minister, which is perceived by unions as an unfriendly move.
However, the roots of the protest predate Mr Barnier’s appointment.
“This will be the return match in the fight against pension reform,” said Sophie Binet, the General Secretary of the CGT union on FranceInfo last week. She was referring to the law passed in March 2023 raising the pension age from 62 to 64 by 2030.
The reform led to major protests, including one involving 1.27 million people (Interior Ministry figures) on January 31, 2023.
Her union hopes to strongarm the government into repealing that law.
It is not expected that today’s protests will reach anywhere near the numbers seen in 2023 or that the prime minister would entertain a repeal of the pension reforms. This would cost many billions of euros the country can ill afford at a time when tax rises are being considered to reduce a large public deficit.
Mr Barnier’s government is under pressure to produce France’s 2025 budget before the mid-October deadline, and needs to make billions of euros in spending cuts and tax increases.
What to expect around France
Rail services
While it was initially feared that the strike would cause major disruption, SNCF has dismissed this possibility.
“As part of the national industrial action, traffic on SNCF Voyageurs trains will be almost normal on Tuesday 1 October”, said the company in a press release.
Rail workers unions are calling for better treatment by the SNCF subsidiary groups and improved pay, in addition to the repeal of the pension reform.
Nonetheless, the SNCF says that people affected by the disruption can cancel or exchange their ticket for free here.
There are also minor disruptions reported on Paris Metro services.
Teachers
Several teachers unions joined the strike to highlight the need for better pay and increased recruitment.
“It takes 17 years in the post to increase your wage by €400,” announced the Snes-FSU union on its website. “And 56% of collèges [secondary schools] are short of at least one teacher.”
The unions were also displeased by the appointment of Anne Genetet as minister of education, which the Snes-FSU described as “a casting error”.
However, since teachers at secondary schools and colleges do not need to declare their individual participation in strike action, it is not known in advance how many teachers will be absent.
French public schools are obliged to provide a minimum service in case of strikes, in many cases the disruption will only be felt by pupils.
Schools will either have to provide substitute teachers or to move students into merged classes to cope with striking teachers.
Primary school teachers are obliged to announce in advance if they are going on strike. The mairie is expected to find replacement teachers to minimise disruption.
‘Awkward’ protests
Around 175 local protests had been announced by Sunday, September 29, against more than 200 on May 1.
Early indications suggest the protests will not be so well-attended.
In particular, five major unions (CFDT, FO, CGE-CGC, CFTC and l'Unsa) chose not to strike or protest today.
In Paris a protest march will go from Denfert-Rochereau at 14:00 towards the Bastille.
This march was initially expected to coincide with the presentation of the 2025 budget to parliament, hence the onus of the strike on budgetary changes and pension reform.
However, Mr Barnier’s government has not prepared its budget plans yet.
Instead, the march will coincide with Prime Minister Michel Barnier’s general policy address at 15:00 when - as with all French prime ministers - he will set the course for his government.
The timing alone has been problematic for unions, who are aware they are fighting battles that could be made obsolete by Mr Barnier’s address.
“Demonstrating on the day when the prime minister makes his general policy speech is a bit awkward”, CFTC leader Cyril Chabanier told FranceInfo last week. “We will listen to it and if we see that things aren't going in the right direction, we won't rule out the possibility of further movements”.
