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Why join us?

The yellow vests' and high-school students' causes (purchasing power, pensions, public services, democracy) concern far more people than you might think. Pick a profile: you will find concrete, sourced stakes, common objections and a possible first step. Useful to make up your mind, to convince someone close to you or for a debate.

The link adapts to the chosen profile: it opens straight onto the sourced arguments that concern that person.

You are someone who cares about civil liberties

What is at stake for you

  • Protesting is a right protected by the Constitution: the Constitutional Council calls it the "right to the collective expression of ideas and opinions".1
  • A ban must be justified case by case: in 2023, the Council of State recalled that a protest cannot be banned solely because of its cause, nor merely on the minister's instruction.2
  • In 2019, the Constitutional Council struck down the law letting the prefect ban an individual from protesting.3
  • During the yellow vests movement, 11,203 people were taken into custody, 5,962 of them released without charge: Amnesty International sees an abusive use of the law against protesters.4
  • In October 2026, after the 17 October protests, the executive multiplies curfews, announces plans to ban any gathering not called by a union (a distinction deemed illegal by the LDH) and prepares with telecom operators to suspend TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat and X: Amnesty International denounces a "security escalation" and warns of seven signs of authoritarian drift in France.5678

If someone says…

"If it's banned, there must be a reason."
A ban can be challenged before a judge, who rules urgently, and taking part in a banned protest exposes you to a fine, not to custody for that reason alone. Defending this right means defending it for every cause, including yours.910 → The right to protest

A first step: Check before each protest whether there is a ban order, and support associations' legal challenges.

You are a woman

What is at stake for you

  • Women receive a direct pension 38% lower than men's; the gap is still 25% when survivor pensions are included (2023).11
  • Raising the retirement age to 64 penalises women more: the government itself admitted it in 2023.12

If someone says…

"Protests are dangerous for me."
Come with a buddy, stay in the march and carry useful numbers, including 3919 for sexist violence. → Sexist violence and harassment

A first step: Talk about the pension gap with a friend, then come to a rally together.

You are a craftsperson, shopkeeper or small business owner

What is at stake for you

  • SMEs pay an implicit corporate tax rate of 21.4%, against 14.3% for large companies, better equipped for tax optimisation (INSEE, 2025).13
  • Public subsidies to companies reach about €157 billion a year, with no social or environmental conditions.14

If someone says…

"Blockades cost shopkeepers money."
The yellow vests movement was born against a fuel tax rise: your customers' purchasing power is also your turnover. You can support without blocking. → Yellow vests (history)

A first step: Show your support in your shop window or share a solidarity fund.

You are a retiree

What is at stake for you

  • The rise in retirees' CSG was cancelled, for pensions under €2,000 a month, only after the yellow vests protests (10 December 2018).15
  • The 2023 pension reform was passed without a vote in the Assembly, using Article 49.3. → Pensions 2023 (history)

If someone says…

"I'm retired, it doesn't concern me any more."
Your children and grandchildren are affected by the later retirement age. And you can support without marching. → Welcoming someone out of custody

A first step: Support without marching: solidarity fund, petition, welcoming someone out of police custody.

You are young or a student

What is at stake for you

  • 19% of students could not meet their basic needs, and 44% work alongside their studies (OVE, 2023).16
  • In 2026, Amnesty International deems the high-school students' demands (teachers, safe buildings, nurses) legitimate and calls for dialogue rather than repression.17

If someone says…

"Protesting could harm my studies or my record."
Protesting is a right. Knowing the rules (absences, blockades, custody) avoids most trouble. → High-school students' guide

A first step: Join a student group or union, and come with a buddy.

You are a public sector worker

What is at stake for you

  • The index point value was frozen from 2010 to 2016 and from 2017 to 2022: a category C worker lost nearly 15% of purchasing power between 2010 and 2022.18

If someone says…

"I'm not allowed, I'm a civil servant."
You are: the duty of discretion is about how you express your opinions, not about the right to protest.19 → Duty of discretion and neutrality

A first step: Check with your union, then protest off duty.

You are the parent of a pupil or student

What is at stake for you

  • In 2026, more than 5,000 arrests in twelve days during the high-school movement, 85% of them minors; their demands were about teachers, buildings and nurses.17
  • 19% of students could not meet their basic needs (OVE, 2023).16

If someone says…

"I'd rather my child didn't protest."
Prepare them instead: a buddy, an adult's number on paper, and their rights in custody (mandatory lawyer, parents informed). → If your child is arrested

A first step: Be the reachable adult on protest day, or come with your child.

You are a teacher (primary or secondary school)

What is at stake for you

  • In real terms, teachers lost between 15 and 25% of their pay in recent years (Senate report, 2021).20
  • In 2020, high-school students in custody after blockades were questioned about which teachers had encouraged them.21

If someone says…

"I must stay neutral in front of my pupils."
In class, yes. Off duty, you can protest: the duty of discretion is about how you express yourself.19 → Strike: 48-hour notice (primary schools)

A first step: Join your school's inter-union group, and support your pupils if they are sanctioned.

You are a private-sector employee

What is at stake for you

  • In 2023, a private-sector employee earns on average €2,735 net a month (full-time equivalent), but that wage lost 0.8% in purchasing power, after −1.0% in 2022: inflation (+4.9%, after +5.2%) outpaced pay rises.22
  • Half of private-sector employees earn less than €2,183 net a month, and one in ten less than €1,512.22

If someone says…

"If I strike, I could be fired or lose my pay."
You cannot be punished or dismissed for striking, except for gross misconduct; the employer only withholds pay in proportion to the time stopped.23 → Striking in the private sector

A first step: Talk it over with colleagues or a union, then join the march on a strike day or outside working hours.

You are someone unemployed or in a precarious situation

What is at stake for you

  • In 2018, a third (34%) of households eligible for the RSA were not receiving it in any given quarter: they could claim on average €330 a month, i.e. €750 million unpaid each quarter.24
  • Tax fraud far exceeds benefit fraud, which is itself lower than non-take-up of aid (RSA, activity bonus unclaimed by eligible people).25

If someone says…

"The unemployed and people on benefits exploit the system."
Non-take-up is bigger than fraud: a third of households eligible for the RSA do not receive it, and benefit fraud is lower than non-take-up.2425

"Aid attracts foreigners (a \"pull effect\")."
This Les Surligneurs fact-check finds the idea unfounded: according to the Institut convergences migrations (CNRS), quoted by the fact-check, there is "no correlation" between reception conditions and flows. On state medical aid, a 2019 Irdes survey cited in the same piece finds that 9.5% of irregular foreigners surveyed say they came for health care, and only one in two eligible people apply for it.26

A first step: Check whether you are entitled to aid you are not getting, and tell people around you.

You are a farmer

What is at stake for you

  • In 2020, one in six people in a farming household lived below the poverty line, a higher share than among all working households.27
  • The median living standard of farming households (€22,700 a year) is close to that of working households (€22,800), but varies a lot by production: €27,000 in wine-growing, €19,500 in beef cattle.27

If someone says…

"I have no time, there are animals and fields to look after."
A local, calm action close to home can be done without leaving the farm for long: a roundabout, a market, backing a strike fund. → Organising locally

A first step: Come to a local gathering, or support a strike fund.

You are someone living in a small town or the countryside

What is at stake for you

  • Depending on where you live, access to GPs varies sharply: the best-served 10% of the population have 5.6 consultations a year, the least-served 10% have 1.4 (4.1 times fewer).28
  • Access to GPs fell a further 1.4% between 2022 and 2023.28
  • The Defender of Rights warns of administrative procedures digitised "at forced march" and of ever more numerous complaints.29

If someone says…

"Protests are for big cities."
Not necessarily: you can act close to home, at a roundabout, a market, or by backing a strike fund. → Organising locally

A first step: Say what has closed or is missing near you, and join a local action.

You are a healthcare worker

What is at stake for you

  • At the end of 2023, hospitals and clinics had 369,400 full-stay beds; the number falls every year (−1.4% in 2021, −1.8% in 2022, −1.3% in 2023), faster than before the health crisis (−0.9% a year in 2013-2019).30
  • Meanwhile, day-care places (no overnight stay) rise (+4.1% in 2023): the "outpatient shift" described by DREES.30
  • Access to GPs fell 1.4% between 2022 and 2023.28

If someone says…

"My place is with patients, not on the street."
Protesting off duty takes no care away from any patient. In the march, trained street medics provide first aid.31 → First aid at protests

A first step: Protest off duty, with colleagues or your union, and spot the march's street medics.

You are someone with a disability or a chronic illness

What is at stake for you

  • In 2023, 45% of 15-64 year-olds with an administrative recognition of disability are in the labour force (employed or unemployed), versus 74% of the whole population.32
  • Among those in the labour force with a recognised disability, unemployment is 12%, versus 7% for the whole population.32

If someone says…

"It's not for me, I can't protest."
You can, with preparation: a dedicated buddy, a scouted route, your medication on you, and sometimes an accessible march.33 → Protesting with a disability

A first step: Read the guide, prepare your medication and come with a buddy.

You are a police officer or gendarme

What is at stake for you

  • At the end of 2018, 23 million overtime hours were stockpiled in the national police, neither paid nor taken as leave (Court of Audit).34
  • De-escalation also protects officers: policing seen as indiscriminate radicalises the crowd, and the Defender of Rights argues for dialogue.3536
  • You have no right to strike, but pensions and pay affect you like everyone else.37

If someone says…

"Protesters hate the police."
What is denounced is practices (LBD shots, kettling) and impunity, not people. → Documented repression

A first step: Talk about de-escalation with colleagues, and raise the overtime issue in your unions.

How to talk about it without falling out: Talk to your loved ones. A profile is missing? Suggest it.

  1. Constitutional Council — Decision no. 94-352 DC of 18 January 1995 · AI-sourced on · awaiting human check ↩

  2. Conseil d'État — Order no. 488860 of 18 October 2023 (demonstrations supporting the Palestinian population) · AI-sourced on · awaiting human check ↩

  3. Constitutional Council — Decision no. 2019-780 DC of 4 April 2019 ('anti-rioters' law) · AI-sourced on · awaiting human check ↩

  4. Amnesty International — France: thousands of peaceful protesters arbitrarily arrested and prosecuted (2020) · AI-sourced on · awaiting human check ↩

  5. Amnesty International France — Amnesty denounces a security escalation and serious obstacles to the right to protest in France (October 2026, in French) · AI-sourced on · awaiting human check ↩

  6. Amnesty International France — Is France sliding into authoritarian practices? 7 warning signs (29 October 2026, in French) · AI-sourced on · awaiting human check ↩

  7. franceinfo — 24 October protests: 'Allowing only union marches is completely illegal', says the LDH (22 October 2026, in French) · AI-sourced on · awaiting human check ↩

  8. Blast — The Prime Minister prepared a social media shutdown for 24 October (24 October 2026, in French) · AI-sourced on · awaiting human check ↩

  9. Justice.fr — Dispute with the administration: the fundamental-freedom emergency procedure · AI-sourced on · awaiting human check ↩

  10. LDH — Legal note: taking part in a banned demonstration (November 2023, in French) · AI-sourced on · awaiting human check ↩

  11. DREES — Retirees and pensions, 2025 edition (in French) · AI-sourced on · awaiting human check ↩

  12. Public Sénat — Pensions: 'women are a bit penalised by the later legal age', admits Franck Riester · AI-sourced on · awaiting human check ↩

  13. Le Journal des entreprises — SMEs pay more corporate tax than large companies (2025) · AI-sourced on · awaiting human check ↩

  14. IRES (CLERSÉ-CNRS) — Capitalism on life support: measuring public subsidies to French businesses (2022) · AI-sourced on · awaiting human check ↩

  15. Public Sénat — Macron announces a raft of measures to appease the yellow vests · AI-sourced on · awaiting human check ↩

  16. L'Étudiant — Students' living conditions differ by social background, according to the OVE (2023) · AI-sourced on · awaiting human check ↩↩

  17. Amnesty International France — High-school movement: minors facing repression · AI-sourced on · awaiting human check ↩↩

  18. Weka — Civil service: purchasing power down as inflation rises · AI-sourced on · awaiting human check ↩

  19. Service-Public — Duties of reserve, discretion, neutrality and professional secrecy in the public service · AI-sourced on · awaiting human check ↩↩

  20. Acteurs publics — Teachers' pay fell by 15 to 25% over twenty years (Longuet report, Senate) · AI-sourced on · awaiting human check ↩

  21. Sud Radio — High-school students in custody: "they wanted teachers' names" (2020) · AI-sourced on · awaiting human check ↩

  22. Insee Première — Private-sector wages in 2023 (in French) · AI-sourced on · awaiting human check ↩↩

  23. Service-Public — Droit de grève d'un salarié du secteur privé · AI-sourced on · awaiting human check ↩

  24. DREES — Regularly measuring non-take-up of the RSA and the activity bonus (in French) · AI-sourced on · awaiting human check ↩↩

  25. Vie publique — Tax fraud and social benefit fraud: overview · AI-sourced on · awaiting human check ↩↩

  26. Les Surligneurs — Do aid and regularisations for foreigners cause a "pull effect"? (16 October 2026; in French) · AI-sourced on · awaiting human check ↩

  27. Insee Première no. 2098 — Living standards of farming households (in French) · AI-sourced on · awaiting human check ↩↩

  28. DREES — Access to primary care in 2023 (in French) · AI-sourced on · awaiting human check ↩↩↩

  29. Defender of Rights — Dematerialisation of public services: three years later (in French) · AI-sourced on · awaiting human check ↩

  30. DREES — In 2023 the fall in beds and the rise in places continue (in French) · AI-sourced on · awaiting human check ↩↩

  31. French Red Cross — Protéger, alerter, secourir · AI-sourced on · awaiting human check ↩

  32. Insee — Work, health and disability (in French) · AI-sourced on · awaiting human check ↩↩

  33. Reporterre — Manifs et handicap, le long parcours du combattant · AI-sourced on · awaiting human check ↩

  34. Banque des territoires — The Court of Audit points to the risks of overtime (2020) · AI-sourced on · awaiting human check ↩

  35. University of Sussex — Changing crowd management practices through research on effects of crowd participation (REF) · AI-sourced on · awaiting human check ↩

  36. LCP — Protests: the Defender of Rights argues for de-escalation · AI-sourced on · awaiting human check ↩

  37. Service-Public — Droit de grève dans la fonction publique · AI-sourced on · awaiting human check ↩

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