French trade unions to hold protests, strikes on September 18

By Dominique Vidalon

PARIS (Reuters) -French unions will stage protests on September 18 against the government's fiscal plans, a top union leader said on Friday, as the euro zone's second biggest economy braces for a confidence vote called by the prime minister that he is likely to lose.

Opposition parties have said they will bring down the minority government in the September 8 confidence vote, which Prime Minister Francois Bayrou unexpectedly announced on Monday over his unpopular plans for a budget squeeze in 2026.

Unions want to make sure those fiscal plans are not adopted, Marylise Leon, the leader of the CFDT, France's largest union, told reporters.

"Our organisations are calling for a day of action on September 18, including through strikes and protest rallies," Leon said after eight major unions met to discuss what steps to take.

"The house of horrors that is the draft budget must be scrapped," she added.

A separate series of protests and strikes has been called for on social media for September 10 by various groups with disparate aims. That call has drawn comparisons to the 'Yellow Vest' protests that erupted in 2018 over fuel price hikes and the high cost of living.

The "Gilets Jaunes" protests spiralled into a broader movement against President Emmanuel Macron and his efforts at economic reform.

Bayrou called the September 8 confidence vote in a bid to get ahead of a likely no-confidence vote the opposition was preparing to hold later in the year over his plans for a budget squeeze in 2026.

That immediately backfired, with opposition parties saying they would vote him out.

Business leaders have warned that the political crisis carries heavy risks for the French economy.

(Reporting by Dominique Vidalon; Writing by Ingrid Melander; Editing by Makini Brice and Gareth Jones)