2026 Budget: FO calls for strike, with notice starting September 1

Following the Prime Minister's budget announcements in the middle of the summer, unions plan to make the start of the school year a time of social protest. The general secretary of Force Ouvrière, Frédéric Souillot, sent a letter to François Bayrou to inform him that his union was calling for "mobilization and strike action" against the budgetary measures presented in mid-July, with notice from September ¹ to November 30.

FO "calls on employees and workers in the private and public sectors to mobilize and strike against the budgetary measures announced on July 15," with a strike notice that "begins on September ¹ [and runs] until November 30, 2025," writes Mr. Souillot, in this letter dated Friday, July 25, consulted by Agence France-Presse (AFP), after having been initially revealed on Tuesday by the Specialized Information Agency (AEF).

The third largest French union has chosen to set a "marker" without waiting for the inter-union meeting scheduled for September ¹ , which is to study the follow-up to the Prime Minister's announcements.

"All the trade union organisations are unanimous in their rejection of austerity policies that make workers, those in precarious employment, job seekers and even retirees pay," writes Mr Souillot, denouncing "brutal" and "unfair" measures . He cites in particular "the elimination of two public holidays, the questioning of the fifth week of paid leave, the questioning of labour law, yet another reform of unemployment insurance" , "the de-indexation of retirement pensions" and "the doubling of medical deductibles" .

Stating that his letter "serves as notice of strike action for sectors where legislation requires it" , he asserts that "there are solutions which include a contribution on the highest incomes or companies, or even the conditionality of public aid to companies" .

The trade unions (CFDT, CGT, FO, CFE-CGC, CFTC, UNSA, FSU, Solidaires) have collectively launched a petition to say "no to the Bayrou budget" , which collected more than 275,000 signatures on Tuesday, and a platform for "decoding" the announced measures. At the same time, calls for a mobilization at the start of the school year have been circulating for several days on social networks, outside of the trade union centers.