Union mobilizations at the start of the school year are a recurring event each fall. But the strikes and protests on Thursday, September 18, were unlike any the country had seen in recent years. Amid widespread discontent and a political crisis triggered by the lack of a parliamentary majority since the dissolution of the Assemblée Nationale in June 2024, the goal was neither to demand a specific reform or oppose a particular minister's project, but to denounce the injustices of the draft 2026 budget outlined by former prime minister François Bayrou - a plan already rendered obsolete. For his successor, Sébastien Lecornu, who had yet to form his government or announce his main budgetary priorities, it was a second warning after the less powerful "Block Everything" protest movement on September 10.

The eight labor unions, united for the first time since the 2023 pension reform protests, brought together 500,000 people, according to the Interior Ministry (more than one million, according to the CGT union) and managed to march without any major incidents. This success made them indispensable interlocutors for the prime minister as he seeks a compromise that could lift the country out of its budget deadlock.

The inability of the three main blocs in the Assemblée Nationale to form a majority around measures to reduce the deficit only increases the potential influence of labor unions and employers' organizations in resolving the crisis. After years of being sidelined by the government, the unions are now in a position to play a real role. That is good news, as is Lecornu's commitment on Thursday evening to "continue the dialogue" with them.

But simply abandoning Bayrou's proposal to eliminate two public holidays, along with certain privileges for former prime ministers already scrapped by Lecornu, will not be enough. Sharp negotiating skills and more concrete measures will be needed to meet the demand for a "budget of fiscal, social and environmental justice," as Marylise Léon, head of the CFDT, called for on Thursday.

Fiscal progress is expected to correct the absurdity whereby the wealthiest fortunes are proportionally less taxed than the ordinary taxpayer. Politically, there will also be no way forward without concessions on the pension reform, which has soured labor relations since 2023. After the failure of talks this spring over the pension reform - for which the MEDEF, France's largest employers' organization, bears clear responsibility - employers must temper their intransigence.

The stakes go beyond a routine post-summer protest. Beyond union banners and slogans, a deep-seated anger is resonating across the country, demanding a political response - an anger fueled by a feeling that the system is running on empty and that the country's leaders are out of touch with daily realities. Lecornu must calm union discontent while convincing the Socialists, without alienating the right and the MEDEF. His ability to solve this complex equation will determine whether he can pass a 2026 budget, pull France out of paralysis and avert a worsening of the political crisis that would benefit only one winner: the far right.

Unions are at the heart of the French political equation