{"id":13918,"date":"2026-11-05T16:54:17","date_gmt":"2026-11-05T16:54:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=13918"},"modified":"2026-11-05T16:54:17","modified_gmt":"2026-11-05T16:54:17","slug":"more-than-600000-rally-across-france-to-demand-higher-wages-and-school-funding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=13918","title":{"rendered":"More than 600,000 rally across France to demand higher wages and school funding"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Protesters participate in a demonstration against rising living costs and cuts to public services in Paris, France, Thursday. France is bracing for new protests expected to bring together Yellow Vest (Gilets Jaunes) activists, high school and university students, trade unions and other groups demonstrating over rising living costs, fuel prices, and deteriorating public services. EPA-Yonhap<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

PARIS \u2014 France\u2019s Interior Ministry said more than 600,000 people rallied Thursday across France, including in Paris, to demand higher wages and school funding in nationwide strikes and demonstrations.<\/p>\n

After more than a month of large, recurring protests across France, major rallies took place again in Paris, Lyon, Marseille and elsewhere, most of which were peaceful. The Interior Ministry said the figures were still provisional.<\/p>\n

Hundreds of thousands of people joined nationwide strikes and demonstrations in France on Thursday to demand higher wages and support the student protest movement, piling fresh pressure on the beleaguered government.<\/p>\n

After more than a month of large, recurring protests across France, major rallies took place again in Paris, Lyon, Marseille and elsewhere.<\/p>\n

The Paris march began peacefully on Thursday afternoon at Place de la R\u00e9publique. The large crowd included many students carrying signs reading, \u201cInequalities seriously jeopardize our future\u201d and \u201cWe can\u2019t spend our whole lives just trying to make a living.\u201d They were joined by workers and retirees demanding higher wages and pensions.<\/p>\n

Interior Minister Laurent Nu\u00f1ez said that by early afternoon, around 270,000 people had joined the 180 union-organized rallies outside the capital, most of which were peaceful.<\/p>\n

About a third of France\u2019s high schools were closed or unable to operate, some because of student blockades and others because teachers were on strike. Public transportation was disrupted in some areas. The Eiffel Tower was also closed.<\/p>\n

Police are prepared but tensions flare again<\/strong><\/p>\n

Nu\u00f1ez said that 70,000 police officers were deployed, backed by armored vehicles, drones and helicopters. Police have been criticized for injuring protesters with heavy-handed tactics.<\/p>\n

Many demonstrations in recent weeks have been marred by violence, which authorities blamed on masked far-left radicals seeking to incite insurrection and others intent on looting.<\/p>\n

Authorities in the western region of Brittany said masked individuals tried to block roads in Rennes. They said young people, often accompanied by adults, committed \u201cserious acts of violence,\u201d including throwing steel balls at police.<\/p>\n

Authorities also reported tensions, scuffles and other incidents in the cities of Lyon, Nantes, Pau, Orl\u00e9ans, Rennes and Toulouse.<\/p>\n

Unions aim to send a warning<\/strong><\/p>\n

France\u2019s main unions warned that the country is on the brink of recession and that layoff plans are multiplying. \u201cFuel, food products, rent, gas, electricity \u2026 everything\u2019s going up except wages and pensions,\u201d they said in a joint statement.<\/p>\n

France is mired in debt and is one of the worst economic performers in Europe, along with Italy and Belgium.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to give every single children here in this country a proper future,\u201d said Garance Blaise, a 21-year-old university student taking part in the Paris march.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s all about the way we don\u2019t know whether we\u2019ll get a job or not. And our parents, they know that and they agree with us and they also have things to ask for,\u201d she said. \u201cSo I think the movement is already global, it is already all over Europe and it\u2019s not just students, it\u2019s the whole population.\u201d<\/p>\n

Corinne Cucchini, from the Private Healthcare Federal Union, joined the Paris demonstration to denounce \u201cstaff shortages and a lack of equipment\u201d at the private hospital in Paris where she works. \u201cOur demands focus on raising wages and the working conditions,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Fabien Villedieu, national secretary of the SUD-Rail union, took aim at President Emmanuel Macron ‘s centrist government and the national rail company, SNCF.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the government is not reasonable, when the head of the SNCF is not reasonable \u2026 we simply do what we\u2019ve always done in France, which is to go on strike,\u201d he said at the Gare de Lyon station in Paris.<\/p>\n

Before the strike action, the government had been negotiating with unions \u2014 a familiar scenario in French politics \u2014 in hopes of limiting the protest movement, which has resulted in France’s most violent civil unrest in years.<\/p>\n

Protests are drawn into election campaigning<\/strong><\/p>\n

The movement began in September with a protest over staff shortages at a high school southeast of Paris and spread nationwide. It drew students demanding more education funding and then broadened to workers seeking better pensions and help with soaring fuel prices and other costs.<\/p>\n

Thursday’s demonstrations come as the campaign to succeed Macron as president next May heats up, with political leaders seeking to capitalize on the movement. Macron is constitutionally barred from seeking a third consecutive term. Far-right contender Marine Le Pen is the favorite to win.<\/p>\n

Some candidates participated in the Paris march, including veteran far-left firebrand Jean-Luc M\u00e9lenchon, Green leader Marine Tondelier and Rapha\u00ebl Glucksmann, who represents the moderate left.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a sense of absolute frustration at the government\u2019s failure to operate,\u201d said Paul Smith, an associate professor of French history and politics at the University of Nottingham in England. \u201cWhoever wins the presidential election is going to have a stack of problems to cope with.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very difficult to see exactly where things go,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

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Protesters participate in a demonstration against rising living costs and cuts to public services in Paris, France, Thursday. France is bracing for new protests expected to bring together Yellow Vest (Gilets Jaunes) activists, high school and university students, trade unions and other groups demonstrating over rising living costs, fuel prices, and deteriorating public services. EPA-Yonhap…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13919,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_templately_pack_id":"","_templately_imported_at":"","_templately_source":"","_templately_import_session_id":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16,14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13918","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-korea","category-trending-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t