Striking workers marched across France against the rising cost of living on Thursday (November 5, 2026), with hundreds of thousands of people expected to take to the streets nationwide in a new escalation following weeks of protest.
“More than 2,50,000 people were taking part in demonstrations across 73 cities by the afternoon,” the major labour union CGT said.
Alleged police violence
The police response has been criticised as heavy-handed and internal police investigations have been launched over allegations of brutality against demonstrators. “We’re fed up. The unions are calling for across-the-board wage raises, tax reforms and better learning conditions for young people and have complained about police restrictions on certain protests. Public and private education unions have called for strike action, as well as unions representing rail workers, public hospitals and postal services. The protests have been largely peaceful, though some disintegrated into clashes with police, who have fired tear gas and water cannon to disperse crowds. Several teenage protesters have been seriously wounded and thousands arrested. Similar protests have erupted in other European countries in recent weeks in Denmark, Germany and Italy.
An attempted murder investigation has been launched after petrol bombs were thrown at security forces in Paris on Saturday (October 28, 2026). Sylvie Larneury, 61, a healthcare manager, and her 61-year-old partner, an IT specialist, were on strike Thursday so that they could join the march in the central city of Clermont-Ferrand.
We’re not starving, but we have to help our children even though they’ve studied,” she said. Protesting in the city of Lyon, winegrower Martin Thiberge said he wanted to take part in demonstrations he saw as drawing together people from across French society. “We want to make a living from our work, to make a dignified wage,” he said. “In Paris, police used tear gas to try to prevent students from blocking access to the Helene-Boucher high school,” an AFP reporter said. Interior Minister Laurent Nunez announced on Wednesday that 70,000 police officers and security forces would be deployed across the country, promising “an extremely firm response” to any “acts of violence” or disorder.
