2026 Budget: Sébastien Lecornu invites the inter-union to a meeting next Wednesday

Following the "ultimatum" issued by the inter-union body to Sébastien Lecornu, Prime Minister Matignon is proposing a meeting with the Prime Minister next Wednesday at 10 a.m. to the eight union organizations, union sources told AFP on Saturday, September 20. Wednesday's meeting with all unions, representative or otherwise - a rare occurrence - was confirmed by a government source.

On Friday, the day after the day of mobilization which brought together between 500,000 and 1 million demonstrators , the eight trade union organizations (CFDT, CGT, FO, CFE-CGC, CFTC, Unsa, FSU and Solidaires) had given the Prime Minister until Wednesday, September 24 to "respond to [their] demands" concerning the 2026 budget. Otherwise, the inter-union "will meet to decide very quickly on a new day of strikes and demonstrations."

They demand "the abandonment of the entire project" for the 2026 budget presented this summer by his predecessor, François Bayrou, including "the doubling of medical franchises, the blank year [...], the elimination of 3,000 civil servant posts and the reform of unemployment insurance" , as well as the non-recalling of May 1st as a public holiday and day off, according to a joint text published on Friday.

Meeting for the first time since 2023 and the mobilization against the highly controversial pension reform, the unions are still calling for "the abandonment of the increase in the legal retirement age" to 64.

After the show of force in the streets on Thursday, Sébastien Lecornu announced that he would "once again meet with the union forces." He had already met with union leaders shortly after his appointment, in parallel with his consultations with all political forces - except for the LFI, which refused the invitation.