French workers strike after riots and protests
The gist
Workers across France went on strike and marched, with about 70,000 police deployed nationwide.
The strike tests President Macron's government five months before a presidential election.
How it unfolded
- Sep 17, 2026Teachers at a high school in Créteil, a southeastern Paris suburb, went on strike over staff shortages; joined by students and parents, they blocked the school entrance, and protests soon expanded to high schools nationwide.
- Oct 17, 2026Riots and looting caught security forces off guard, leaving damaged shops and public buildings across the country and fueling criticism of Macron's handling of the crisis.
- Oct 24, 2026Nearly 1,000 people were detained amid demonstrations across France, according to Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez; around 110,000 of the over 410,000 protesters were in Paris.
Key terms
- CGT
- A national trade union center in France, founded in 1895, and one of the country's major union confederations.
- Senate
- The upper house of a bicameral parliament, such as the French Senate, which represents local areas and is elected indirectly.
- two-term limit
- Describes an officeholder barred by law from running for another term in that office.
Source: Wikipedia