Who are the French protesters and what do they want?

France is staring down the barrel of a winter of discontent, and there are no signs that anger on the streets will subside any time soon. 

Anger and frustration from several elements of society have come together this month to create a cocktail of protests and demonstrations, all of which look set to continue over the coming weeks. 

Protesting groups, most notably lycée pupils (aged 15 - 17/18), the resurgent gilets jaunes, major trade unions, and left-wing parties have formed a loose coalition against the government, supporting each other’s demonstrations. 

However, these groups have markedly different grievances and aims for their political movements. 

How will movements progress?

Whether France stands on the edge of a genuinely transformative alliance between workers, the public, and protests (the shadow of May 1968 still lingers in the nation’s psyche), or groups will begin to disengage if their demands are met remains to be seen. 

It will take the government acquiescing to the demands of at least one group to see how united these groups are and if they will continue to back each other, or if this is simply an alliance of convenience. 

There is of course the alternative, that the movement naturally fizzles out, but this currently seems unlikely considering the nationwide support.

Despite a week of condemnation and restrictions on the available routes and activities, demonstrations on October 24 were attended by between 410,000 and 800,000. This large turnout, considering the violence of October 17, will have only buoyed protest organisers. 

The next major movements to keep an eye on are the October 31 demonstrations and the November 5 ‘general mobilisation’, the latter called by France’s trade unions. 

If this day of strike action is widely supported – particularly by pupils, retirees and the public, all called to join by the unions – further demonstrations are extremely likely. 

These could come in the form of major organised strikes on single days throughout winter, or a more concentrated period of mobilisation and strike notices. 

Below, we cover the major demands of each group protesting. 

Pupils and students 

Protests by pupils at French lycées (age 15 -17/18) could be said to have sparked this autumn’s upheaval, although the underlying anger over the cost of living, working conditions, and fuel prices has been lingering for months.

Lycée pupils were the first to begin major demonstrations, however, when they began protests in September 2026. 

Protests by pupils in the Parisian suburbs sought to highlight the poor conditions at their schools, including very large classes (up to 35 pupils in a classroom), poor facilities, a loss of teaching hours, and a lack of supply teachers to cover overworked staff. 

Other grievances highlighted include the unpopular Parcoursup platform for university applications, and overturning the 2018 ‘Blanquer reform’ that replaced the traditional pathways for pre-university education.

The protests quickly spread across France, with hundreds of schools seeing peaceful demonstrations outside by the start of October. In other locations, pupils blockaded school entrances to disrupt classes, or set fire to buildings.

Some schools saw violent clashes between pupils and police, with thousands of arrests and injuries. French police have been criticised for their response to protests, including for using ‘weapons of war’ such as rubber bullets and stun grenades, and with dozens of reported investigations into police misconduct. 

Pupils have also been criticised for wanton violence at some protest sites, looking to simply cause havoc instead of demanding improved conditions. 

The demonstrations have been joined by university student groups – always eager to back a protest, and who began blocking their own universities – and demonstrations continue, albeit less intense than at the start of October. 

Their protests have been joined by unions on major national days of action, with union leaders joining marches to keep the peace – both reducing the risk of violence from pupils and from police. 

Demands remain unchanged since the start of the protests – more funding, more teachers, more resources, and an overhaul of the system. 

The government announced an online platform for pupils to share grievances, which is being used to gather information and set up a pathway for changes, with the first set of policies being announced from this week. 

Commitments to offer teaching hours to 3,000 professionals, as well as additional funding for certain institutions has already been pledged.

The government has also promised to reform the Parcoursup system, announcing this week that it will be replaced by a new orientation tool in 2028.

Trade unions 

Unions have positioned themselves at the forefront of the current discontent, and by many accounts France is due for a new wave of major inter-union action, with strike action fairly sparse so far this year.

Strong turnout for public-sector strike action in September buoyed unions to call for wider action, and they have chosen November 5 as a day to show their strength. 

Strike motions are still being filed, but the inter-union group of France’s largest unions has called on workers across all sectors to strike that day, both public and private, including non-union affiliates. 

Railway workers have filed a motion covering all workers for the day, which could see chaos on the rails. 

Unions have highlighted a slew of issues – the high cost of living, rising inflation and stagnant wages, fuel prices, opposition to the 2023 pension reforms (currently suspended until 2028 but hanging in the balance), and gender inequality.

They are demanding a reopening of negotiations between unions and businesses on several fronts (these typically cover non-union members in France, benefiting all workers at a company), as well as improved funding for public services and a hike in the minimum wage.

Outside of the realm of employment, unions also demand increasing the budget for several benefits and public services.

Unions have also called on non-workers, including retirees and pupils/university students to march with them on November 5, arguing that their demands encompass both groups. 

France’s largest union, the CFDT, has called for the implementation of a wealth tax, modelled on the Zucman tax, to partly fund this spending. 

The government met with unions last week in an effort to reach a compromise, which ended without success and led the CGT to call for November 5 to become a ‘general strike’ and call on all workplaces to debate a strike motion.

How many of the demands are met will depend on the success of November 5 and any future strike days held before the end of the year. 

Unions know that not all demands will be met by the government, but by putting pressure on this close to the budget and the end of Emmanuel Macron’s presidency, they are looking to gain leverage to find as many demands met as possible. 

Gilets jaunes 

The most vocal, potent, yet most enigmatic of the groups currently protesting is France’s reinvigorated gilets jaunes (Yellow Vests) who exploded onto the scene again on October 17. 

The movement is difficult to tie down because it is largely decentralised, with no single leader (compared to the pupils or trade unions that have official representatives in the form of union leaders, or political parties).

This makes an exact tally of their demands difficult, although what is fuelling the anger behind the movements – high fuel prices and the cost of living – remains similar to the unions. 

Various demands have been posted on online forums backing the group, from calls for President Macron to stand down all the way to a new Constitution and creation of the ‘Sixth Republic’, and even a referendum for France to leave the EU. 

The demonstrations are populist in nature, with no single political angle, and encompass voters from the far-left to the far-right, all joined in anger over the current state of affairs. 

Explosive violence on October 17 saw the movement somewhat tempered on October 24 (the second ‘Act’ of the renewed protests), but further demonstrations are expected each Saturday for the foreseeable future. 

Several organisers have also called for the protesters to back union demonstrations, including on November 5, seeing the two groups merge more closely, which could influence both sides to pick up demands from each other. 

The government is yet to officially address the demands of the gilets jaunes, but this could change if the movement continues to gain ground.

La France Insoumise 

France’s far-left party (LFI) has supported all manner of protests in recent weeks, a move that has seen them criticised by many but cemented their position in the presidential race.

Current polls suggest that Jean-Luc Mélenchon, representing the party, will make it to the second round of the 2027 election regardless of his opponents. 

The party’s support for each movement is not only based on its backing of the protesters’ own demands, but a show of its own political strength. 

MPs are now debating the 2027 budget, with LFI opposing the bill in its entirety. 

By combining with the protest movements, the party could win political capital in the coming months, either through new voters for the 2027 election, or in the short-term to pass certain measures in the 2027 budget.