Wednesday 4 November 2026
France braces for Thursday's national strike, with all four rail unions out, the social security budget rejected, and the 2027 budget still blocked
Five union confederations have called a national day of strikes and demonstrations for Thursday, November 5, against the government's 2027 budget, and all four SNCF rail unions have joined over pay. The SNCF expects TGV services slightly disrupted and regional and Paris commuter trains disrupted, with the detailed plan due on Wednesday afternoon.
The strike call, issued on October 5 by the CFDT, CGT, FO, UNSA and FSU, covers public and private sector workers, pensioners and young people. The unions want general pay rises, a higher minimum wage, higher pensions, an end to the public sector pay freeze with wages indexed to inflation, conditions on the 211 billion euros of public aid to companies, and taxes on wealth, inheritance and dividends. The 2027 budget they are striking against carries about 54 billion euros of savings.
The rail unions, CGT-Cheminots, UNSA-Ferroviaire, SUD-Rail and CFDT-Cheminots, are striking on their own pay demands as well: a general wage rise, higher bonuses and a full 13th month payment. Their walkout lands on the eve of the first commercial run of the new TGV M train. The SNCF's first forecast, issued on November 3, was slightly disrupted TGV services and disrupted Intercites, TER and Ile-de-France Transilien and RER trains, with the line by line plan due on the afternoon of November 4 and free exchanges or refunds on cancelled trains. In Paris, the RATP expects metro, bus and tram services to run normally, though stations near the marches may close. In Lyon, metro lines B, C and D and both funiculars will be shut completely, and tram workers in Marseille are striking.
The politics around the day are moving too. The National Assembly has rejected the 2027 social security budget, which now goes to the Senate, and the vote on the main budget bill has been postponed again in the Assembly. The government retains the Article 49.3 route, which passes a budget without a vote, at the price of facing a no confidence motion.
The Yellow Vest coordination has called on supporters to join Thursday's strike and to carry the action into Friday and Saturday, with marches planned in Paris, Lyon, Marseille, Bordeaux, Lille, Nantes, Rennes, Strasbourg and Angers. Diesel stood at 2.23 euros a litre on November 3, about 111 euros for a 50 litre tank, and fuel prices were the spark of the original Yellow Vest movement in 2018. The unions meet after Thursday to decide the next step, and FO has a strike notice on file running to December 31.
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