Overview

• Teachers, transport staff and pharmacists joined nationwide stoppages that severely curtailed the Paris Metro and regional rail while most high‑speed TGV services operated.
• Authorities deployed more than 80,000 police and gendarmes with drones, armoured vehicles and water cannon, using tear gas in several cities and reporting more than 180 arrests.
• Official counts indicated roughly half a million demonstrators nationwide, while unions claimed around one million, following earlier estimates that projected 600,000 to 900,000 participants.
• State utility EDF said nuclear output was lowered by 1.1 gigawatts as workers took part in the industrial action, adding an energy dimension to the protest pressure.
• Lecornu is courting Socialist support to pass a 2026 budget after François Bayrou was ousted over the draft savings plan, as unions demand scrapping the cuts, taxing the wealthy and reversing pension changes.