PARIS – Strikes and street demonstrations called by all major trade unions to denounce budget cuts were expected Thursday across France, as new Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu talks with political opponents about curbing France’s massive deficit and debt .

Unions are urging Lecornu to abandon draft budget measures proposed by his predecessor, which include social welfare freezes and austerity measures that many say will further erode the purchasing power of low-paid and middle-class workers.

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In a joint statement issued before the change of prime minister last week , unions described such measures as “unprecedented brutality,” regretting that previous government had "chosen to make workers, those in precarious employment, retirees, and the sick pay the price.”

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