“It will last a long time”: Sophie Binet threatens the government with a lasting high school mobilization

“If this is your response to the mobilization, it will last a long time,” the general secretary of the CGT, Sophie Binet, sent a warning to the Minister of the Economy, Roland Lescure, this Sunday on France 2. While the high school protest has continued for several weeks, the trade unionist called on the government to review its budget copy, otherwise the movement would take hold over the long term.

“High school mobilization confronts you with your responsibilities. Young people are the most precious thing we have,” she said, recalling that a new call to action was planned for Tuesday October 13. “Don’t think about getting out of this mobilization through cosmetic measures,” she warned, denouncing overcrowded classes, non-guaranteed lesson times and difficulties in accessing higher education. She particularly pointed the finger at Parcoursup, mentioning “100,000 young people without answers”.

Facing her, Roland Lescure defended the action of the executive: “Youth is the most precious thing we have, I agree with you. This is why we must quickly adopt a budget.” The minister notably highlighted the additional resources intended for replacements in high schools. He also considered that a reform of school schedules constituted a “major challenge” in France, regretting that course days were sometimes too long.

Sophie Binet insisted on the job cuts planned in the 2027 draft budget. This effectively provides for the disappearance of 1,588 tenured teaching positions, despite an overall increase in the ministry's workforce, particularly linked to the reform of teacher training. Roland Lescure justified these choices by the demographic decline. “In the next ten years, we will lose 1.7 million young people,” he explained, estimating that the government was cutting fewer jobs than this development would allow. On Parcoursup, he also defended the principle of selection at the university, asking his interlocutor what device she planned to replace the platform with.

Beyond education, Sophie Binet denounced the social consequences of the savings measures envisaged by the executive. She was particularly concerned about the partial deindexation of retirement pensions and the freezing of housing assistance, which, according to her, would lead to a loss of purchasing power. Referring to employees forced to give up going to work due to the price of fuel, she accused the government of “pressing their heads underwater”. The general secretary of the CGT thus demanded the abandonment of austerity measures and recalled the inter-union call for a new mobilization on November 5.

Roland Lescure, for his part, defended a budget providing for “more than 11 billion” in levies on the wealthiest taxpayers and large businesses. Recognizing that France helped and taxed businesses more than other countries, he called for preserving their competitiveness. “We want the government to respond to the ideas of young people,” concluded Sophie Binet, otherwise the executive project would risk, according to her, becoming a “recession budget”.