France braced for a day of nationwide disruption on Thursday, September 18, in a show of anger over President Emmanuel Macron's budget policies, with unions vowing mass protests, public transport set to be paralysed in places due to strikes and officials warning of possible disturbances by extremist elements.
Strike action on Thursday will see around a third of teachers walk out of schools, nine out of 10 pharmacies shuttered and severe disruption on the Paris metro network, where only the three driverless automated lines will work normally. Most high-speed trains in France are still expected to run on Thursday while disruption to airlines should be minimal after air-traffic controllers postponed a strike but warned of a three-day action in early October.
It is expected to be the most widely followed day of union-led protests and strikes since the months-long mobilisation against Macron's controversial pension reform in early 2023, which the government eventually rammed through parliament without a vote.
A more informal day of action held on September 10, despite isolated disruption, did not succeed however on its self-declared aim to "block everything."
Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said he expected a "very, very strong" mobilization on Thursday, describing it as a "hybrid day," with the risk of sabotage actions performed by ultra-left-wing groups from early morning and the mass sanctioned protests in the day. "We will respond with massive resources and clear orders," he told BFM-TV, saying more than 80,000 police officers and gendarmes would be deployed, backed by drones, armoured vehicles and water cannons.
Between 600,000 and 900,000 people are expected to take to the streets nationwide, according to an interior ministry estimate.
Paris Police Chief Laurent Nunez told Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Wednesday that he was "very concerned" about the risk that rioters intent on provoking fights and damage would infiltrate the union march in Paris, urging shops in the centre to close for the day and protect their storefronts.
Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu, Macron's seventh head of government, took office last week, vowing a break from the past against the backdrop of an ongoing political crisis. Yet the appointment of Lecornu, the former defense minister, has failed to assuage the anger of unions and the left.
They remain incensed about the draft €44 billion cost-saving budget put forward by his predecessor, François Bayrou, despite Lecornu's pledges to abolish both the life-long privileges of prime ministers and a widely detested plan to scrap two public holidays.
"We feel that our colleagues were not fooled by the appointment of Sébastien Lecornu," which "did not calm the anger," said Sophie Venetitay, general secretary of Snes-FSU, the leading union for middle and high school teachers.
While the day of protest represents an early test of crisis management for Lecornu, anger is crystallizing against Macron, who has just one-and-a-half years left in power and is enduring his worst-ever popularity levels. The "obstacle" to revoking the pension reform – still vehemently opposed by the unions – lies "in the Elysée Palace," said the head of the CGT union Sophie Binet.