French unions call more protests to put pressure on new prime minister

By Elizabeth Pineau and Ingrid Melander

PARIS (Reuters) -French unions will hold another day of strike and protests on October 2 to put pressure on new Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu over their demands to scrap his predecessor's austerity fiscal programme, union leaders said.

Union leaders who met with Lecornu on Wednesday said they were not satisfied by his response to their last day of protest, attended by hundreds of thousands of people on September 18.

"The prime minister did not provide any clear answers to the workers' demands, so for the unions, it's a missed opportunity. It doesn't add up," said Marylise Leon, the head of CFDT, France's largest union.

Just over two weeks after President Emmanuel Macron appointed Lecornu as his fifth prime minister in less than two years, the 39-year-old loyalist has yet to pull together a government or a draft budget for 2026. He has to deal with a divided parliament and pressure to fix France's finances.

"There was a big turnout on September 18, and we need to step it up again on October 2," said Sophie Binet, of the CGT union, describing Wednesday's meeting as a missed opportunity where Lecornu made no clear commitment.

Lecornu has been little seen or heard in public since his appointment and has instead held a series of talks with party leaders and unionists to try and gather some support.

The prime minister and Macron are under pressure on one side from protesters and left-wing parties opposed to budget cuts and, on the other, from investors concerned about the deficit. None of parliament's three main groups has a majority.

France's budget deficit last year was close to double the EU's 3% ceiling. Lecornu will face a battle to gather parliamentary support for a budget for 2026.

Lecornu's predecessor, Francois Bayrou, was ousted by parliament on September 8 over his plan for a 44 billion euro budget squeeze. Lecornu has not yet said what he will do with Bayrou's plans.

(Reporting by Elizabeth Pineau, Benoit Van Overstraeten, Makini Brice, Ingrid MelanderEditing by Peter Graff)