Overview

• Force Ouvrière submitted a formal strike notice on July 25 setting a walkout from September 1 to November 30 in protest of Prime Minister François Bayrou’s 2026 austerity budget.
• Secretary-General Frédéric Souillot denounced the measures as brutal, unjust and ineffective, highlighting cuts to two public holidays, the fifth week of paid leave and the de-indexation of pensions.
• Eight major unions have backed a petition against Bayrou’s budget that has gathered more than 275,000 signatures and launched a platform to decode the proposed measures.
• FO proposed alternative financing through contributions from top earners, levies on businesses and conditional public aid to firms.
• Calls for mobilization have also spread on social media ahead of a September 1 inter-union meeting to plan coordinated action.