French civil servants had planned a strike over budget cuts, with the protest coming just a day after the government collapsed due to a no-confidence vote.
Tens of thousands of protesters gathered across France on Thursday as part of a strike over tough working conditions and budget cuts to public service.
The strike came a day after French lawmakers approved a no-confidence motion in response to the government ramming a social security budget through parliament without a vote.
French Prime Minister Michel Barnier proposed cutting tens of billions of euros from the budget including unpopular measures such as increasing unpaid sick leave for civil servants from one to three days.
Between 130,000 and 200,000 protesters rallied across the country on Thursday, based on estimates from French authorities and unions.
Speaking to Euronews outside the Finance Ministry where demonstrations took place, Anne Souyris, a Green party senator, said the no-confidence vote was proof that the French president “has not taken stock of what is happening (in the country), in Parliament and the Senate”.
Souyris criticised the state of hospitals, schools, and care homes in France, adding that there needed to be “rapid, serious, and responsible action from the state”.
“I hope this demonstration will be a wake-up call for the new prime minister and the new government that will be put in place,” she added.
Sophie Binet, secretary-general of the CGT labour union, told reporters at the protest that it wasn’t a question of “casting” but rather the content of economic and social policies.
“We see that President Emmanuel Macron’s supply-side policy is leading us into a wall. It is a catastrophe, an economic and social disaster,” she said.
Education sector ‘faced with difficulties’
Many protesters were from the education sector, which had risked thousands of job cuts under the new budget.
Marlène Gracia, a 38-year-old classics teacher, criticised the burden placed on ordinary workers and said it’s not normal that “the effort always comes from below”.
She was particularly concerned about the proposed changes to the budget regarding sick leave for civil servants.
“It is extremely important for us to be there to show that we can’t take this contempt from the government and its lies any more,” she told Euronews.
“The (French public) debt was not determined by civil servants,” Gracia said.
“There are large multi-billionaire companies, and maybe (they) should share more. It is not normal that the effort always comes from below,” she added.
Angélique, a middle school teacher in Paris, said that the French government’s communication on the sick leave cuts was “false, deceitful, and hypocritical,” adding that teachers are made to look “lazy”.
“We are faced with very complicated difficulties, such as inclusion. We have more and more colleagues who are suffering. There is stress at work since we are asked to welcome all students without any means, without any training. It is very hard,” she told Euronews.
