France faces mass strikes over budget cuts

AWANI

France braces for one of its biggest strikes in years as up to 800,000 people march nationwide. Protests target new PM Lecornu over budget cuts, wages, pensions, and public services.

Transcript

00:00Welcome back. France is bracing for one of its biggest strides in years.

00:05Trade unions have joined forces to pressure Prime Minister Sébastien Le Corneau

00:09over budget cuts, wages, pensions and public services.

00:14Up to 800,000 people are expected to take to the streets nationwide,

00:19with transport, schools and air travel likely to be disrupted.

00:22Authorities have deployed 80,000 police and 250 marches are planned across the country.

00:31The demonstrations come just days after Le Corneau, a close ally of President Emmanuel Macron,

00:36took office as France's third Prime Minister in a year,

00:39following the hosting of François Beirut over a 44 billion euro austerity plan.

00:45Le Corneau has promised to drop Beirut's unpopular plan to scrap two public holidays,

00:49but unions worry other austerity measures, like freezes on welfare spending, could still go ahead.

00:56Le Corneau has only weeks to present a budget and form a minority government,

01:00amid a divided parliament and repeated deadlocks.

01:04France's economy, the second largest in the EU,

01:06is under pressure to cut a deficit nearly double the bloc's 3% limit,

01:11with debt at 114% of GDP.

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