Photo: Protesters demonstrate in Dijon, France, during a nationwide strike on September 18, 2025 / Haldu, Wikimedia Commons / CC0
By: JBizNews Desk 🌎
Workers across France went on strike Thursday, with protests in Paris, Marseille, Lyon, Nantes and Lille, as unions pressed demands for higher wages and tax reform, Al Jazeera reported.
Hundreds of thousands of people were expected to join the marches, and organizers said protests were planned in about 260 locations. Police fired tear gas at protesters in Lyon, Reuters reported.
The strikers are demanding an increase in the minimum wage, higher salaries for all workers, tax reforms and better conditions in schools. Authorities deployed about 70,000 police nationwide, Reuters reported.
The strike follows months of protests over the rising cost of living and comes a day after the National Assembly rejected the government’s proposed 2027 budget, which seeks about 54 billion euros in spending cuts.
For readers: the fight is over how fast France cuts what it spends, and a long standoff could keep pressure on the country’s borrowing costs and European markets.
Eiffel Tower closes as schools and rallies are affected
The Eiffel Tower in Paris was closed on November 5, Fox News reported. Its report cited an official close to Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez as saying an early count put participation at about 270,000 people in 180 rallies outside Paris. That was an early count outside the capital, not a final nationwide attendance figure. Up to 700,000 demonstrators were expected; that figure was a forecast, not an attendance count.
Roughly a third of France’s high schools were closed or unable to operate because of teacher strikes or student blockades, Fox News reported, citing The Associated Press. A high school near Toulouse was set on fire, it reported, citing Reuters.
Authorities in Brittany said masked individuals tried to block roads in Rennes and that some committed serious acts of violence, including throwing steel balls at police, according to Fox News.
France’s main unions warned that the country was on the brink of recession and that layoff plans were multiplying, Fox News reported, citing AP. That is the unions’ warning, not a finding that France has entered recession.
JBizNews Desk | Paris
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