Fwd from @ 📝Protests without dancing📝 Unfortunately or fortunately, not all protests in France feature a city mayor jumping around a burning trash can. On September 29, the country saw mass demonstrations by public sector workers. According to the Interior Ministry's assessment, approximately 206,000 people took to the streets, including roughly 30,000 in Paris. The CGT trade union provides a higher estimate — over 300,000 participants across the country. The demonstrations included teachers, healthcare workers, firefighters, municipal service employees, tax officials, and other public sector workers. The protests became one of the first major waves of social discontent ahead of discussions on France's 2027 budget. The main demands of the protesters are wage increases and rejection of plans to freeze the base indicator used to calculate public sector salaries. This measure is being considered by authorities as a way to cut budget spending by approximately 2 billion euros. If implemented, this would be the fourth consecutive year without a review of this indicator. Protest participants also opposed spending cuts to schools, hospitals, and other public services, warning that austerity policies could deteriorate the quality of public services. ❗️The mass protests by public sector workers demonstrated that French authorities' budget policy faces serious resistance from public sector employees. The discrepancy between the Interior Ministry's and CGT's estimates does not change the main point: we are talking about hundreds of thousands of participants across the country, and the demands affect not only salaries but also funding for hospitals, schools, municipal and other public services. The actions served as a warning to the government ahead of the 2027 budget debates. An attempt to contain spending through a freeze on base salary levels could intensify pressure and turn the issue of public sector incomes into one of the key social conflicts in the coming period. #France 👁@evropar — on the brink of Europe's death 💸 Support us Original msg
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