France: CGT and UNSA call a national strike and demonstrations on Tuesday 17 November 2026 — transport notices not yet filed

The CGT and UNSA have called a national day of strikes and demonstrations on Tuesday 17 November 2026, twelve days after the 5 November mobilisation, in response to the government's social conference of 9 November, at which Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu brought forward a 1.6 per cent rise in the minimum wage to 1 December (to €1,502 net a month). The public-service intersyndicale — CGT, UNSA, FSU, Solidaires, CFE-CGC and FAFP — has called public-sector staff out the same day for pay rises; the CFDT and FO have not joined the call so far.

What to expect: no strike notice had been filed at SNCF or RATP by the evening of 9 November. The CGT and UNSA are the leading unions at both companies and filed notices for 5 November, so notices for 17 November may still follow; this page will be updated with the transport unions' decisions and, closer to the day, with the operators' forecasts. Separately, the CGT's transport federation — bus and coach drivers, airport staff, taxis, ambulances, lorry drivers and logistics — has called a week of "mobilisations, initiatives and strikes" from 16 to 20 November; it names no networks or days, so any effect on local buses, trams and metros will only be known from each operator's forecast. In Paris, metro stations along the demonstration route may be closed at the request of the police prefecture, as on 5 November; the route and time have not been announced. Schools, canteens, crèches and town halls are expected to be the most affected public services.

Why: the unions say the Smic increase is almost entirely the automatic January revaluation brought forward — about €5 of the €23 is new money, according to the CGT — and demand general pay rises, an end to the public-sector pay freeze and more funding for public services; they also contest the 2027 budget's savings. The government wants wage talks at branch and company level and says some business aid will be tied to opening them.