Overview

• Hundreds of thousands joined marches and walkouts nationwide, with authorities and media expecting participation to reach roughly 900,000 to about one million.
• Public services were heavily disrupted as roughly 17 percent of teachers struck according to the ministry, unions reported higher rates, about 90 Paris primary schools closed, and many pharmacies shut their doors.
• Transport was curtailed with about half of regional trains canceled, Paris metro service limited to peak hours on most lines, and TGV operations largely maintained.
• Roughly 80,000 police and gendarmes were deployed across France, several dozen arrests were reported nationwide, seven in Paris early in the day, and Paris’s Tolbiac university closed after disturbances.
• The mobilization targets cuts first advanced by ousted premier François Bayrou, while successor Sébastien Lecornu drops a plan to scrap two holidays yet continues budget talks as unions demand protection for public services and higher taxes on the wealthy.