Lecornu announces €24 monthly rise in minimum wage and tax breaks for firms
The 1.6% increase will lift the net monthly minimum wage to about €1,502, but unions say it falls short of their demands.
- Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu announced a 1.6% increase in the Smic effective December 1, 2026, raising the net monthly minimum wage to approximately €1,502, an increase of €24 per month.
- Demonstrations in major cities escalated from underfunded school protests into broader civil unrest, including riots on October 17, prompting the government to accelerate the minimum wage hike from January.
- Major unions rejected the offer: CFDT head Marylise Léon called the raise "insufficient," while CGT general secretary Sophie Binet labeled it "crumbs," demanding a 10% increase, or about €150 monthly.
- The CGT called for a new national strike and demonstration day on November 17, following the November 5 strike that drew nearly 600,000 marchers according to Interior Ministry counts.
- Nearly 12.7% of French employees earn at or near the minimum wage, compared with 8% in Germany, making wage adjustments politically sensitive five months before the presidential election.
181 Articles
181 Articles
In France, after protests, they decided to raise the minimum wage, the minimum wage in France will be increased by 1.6% - about 24 euros. Unions demand an increase of 100-150 euros.
French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has announced a 1.6 percent increase in the minimum wage from December 1, a month earlier than planned. In parallel, the government intends to take tax measures in favor of businesses and launch a new round of negotiations on wage increases in various sectors. At the end of a conference held on Monday morning in Matignon, with representatives of workers and employers, Lecornu presented several measures aim…
With national debt piling up... France raises minimum wage by 1.6% to appease union protests. Unions call the increase insignificant, strikes continue. France, struggling with national debt amounting to 120% of GDP, recently raised the minimum wage by 1.6% starting the 1st of next month and [regarding] overtime pay
The announcements from the social conference on purchasing power divide the inter-union. If the 1.6% increase in the smic is considered insufficient by all, the CFDT welcomes "a boost to the negotiations", when the CGT sees only "crumbs" and calls for further mobilization.
French PM brings forward hike in minimum wage to calm protesters
French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu said on Monday he was bringing forward a planned hike in the minimum wage to December from January, as he sought to defuse a cost-of-living crisis that has sparked some of France's worst civil unrest in years.
In the model promised by Lecornu, the minimum wage would increase by approximately 24 euros per month.
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