EXPLAINER | Unrest grows as France debates minimum wage hike

Paris ― France faced its latest nationwide protests on Thursday after weeks of unrest over the cost of living and public services, with trade unions and student groups mobilising demonstrators across the country.

The movement began in late September with protests by students over underfunded schools but has broadened into a wider challenge to the government, triggering some of the worst street violence and looting that France has experienced in years.

Here is the latest on the situation in France.

The government’s response

The government has mobilised 70,000 police and other security officers to ensure that the 220 demonstrations planned on Thursday pass peacefully.

It hopes to avoid a repeat of nationwide demonstrations on October 17 that caught security forces off guard and spiralled into a wave of clashes and looting.

The government has indicated it is considering an increase in the minimum wage, which has stood at €1,478 net per month since June, when it was increased by €35 to reflect higher inflation.

France’s biggest union, the CFDT, is calling for an increase of at least €100 net per month.

The government has so far resisted broad measures to address protesters’ anger over the cost of living as it struggles to keep the budget deficit under control.

For students, it has pledged to send about 3,000 teachers, who are fully qualified but have not yet started work, to fill staffing gaps. It has also promised smaller class numbers, further increases in staff numbers next year and €4bn in loans for school renovations.

Grassroots protest movement

A grassroots protest movement backed by some unions is set to hold a new round of demonstrations on Saturday as it has done weekly since the October 17 protest.

Some unions and housing rights associations have called for pan-European protests on November 20-22.

The unrest has dealt a blow to household confidence, which fell in October to its lowest level since June 2013, according to the statistics office’s monthly consumer survey.

The turmoil, which has also dented business confidence, complicates an ongoing fiscal crisis and adds to pressure from higher energy prices resulting from the Iran war.

The minority government is struggling to pass spending cuts in France’s deeply divided parliament as part of its 2027 budget and is at risk of being toppled by opposition parties if a compromise cannot be found with at least some of them.

The unrest has added to investors’ concerns over France’s fiscal outlook, weighing on stocks, increasing pressure on government debt and pushing the yield on the 10-year benchmark bond to 5.14% last month, its highest since 2002.

Will the unrest spread?

France’s protests are not unique in Europe, though they have been among the biggest in a wave of Gen Z-led demonstrations seen across the continent this year.

Hooded rioters looted stores in Frankfurt late last Saturday after tens of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets in Germany’s biggest cities to demand better education and lower living costs.

Clashes erupted in Italy last month between police and protesters during demonstrations over poor public services and the rising cost of living, while Spain and Portugal have faced protests over housing.

Presidential election

President Emmanuel Macron will step down at next year’s election after a decade in power. Polls indicate the unrest is benefiting far-right presidential candidate Marine Le Pen, who is already the frontrunner in polls to replace him and has long talked tough on law and order.

Hard-left candidate Jean-Luc Mélenchon has also seen a poll bump even though he has faced criticism from the government for backing the protesters’ demands, criticising the authorities’ handling of the crisis and not clearly condemning the violence. He said Macron should yield to the protesters or leave office.

Macron’s former prime minister Edouard Philippe, now a centre-right presidential candidate, is trailing both Le Pen and Melenchon, which means he may not make it into the May 2 runoff if he does not regain momentum.

Reuters