VETERAN trade union leader Jean-Claude Mailly warned yesterday that ongoing conflict between the French government and the unions could turn into a national confrontation over President Emmanuel Macron’s economic programme.

Unions are currently holding two-day strikes every week for three months over the government’s European Union-dictated marketisation and compulsory tendering policies for the SNCF state railway company.

Unlike last year’s piecemeal fight against Mr Macron’s liberalisation plans, union opposition is increasingly aligning, said the Force Ouvriere leader in Paris.

“The social atmosphere is changing. It’s like when the air gets a bit too dry, the slightest spark can set off a fire,” he suggested.

As he spoke, students and medical workers confronted riot police in Rouen outside a hospital where Mr Macron was visiting a unit dedicated to children with autism.

Medical staff brandished union flags and banners decrying “Hospital Hell” to express anger over cuts to the public health care system.

In addition to the rolling SNCF strikes, tensions are also growing in lower-profile conflicts over nursing home workers, refuse collectors, university reform, job losses at the Carrefour supermarket chain and Air France pilots’ wages.

Mr Mailly, who has led the country’s third-biggest union since 2004, said there was no guarantee that the anti-reform opposition would coalesce, but a clumsy comment by the government could unite the anti-reform forces.

“If it does not start answering our concerns, the situation is going to deteriorate and at some point something is going to happen, that’s clear,” he said.