Overview
- The proposal, which reaches the Assembly floor Friday, would let some employees work on May Day in a vote pushed by centrists who want the change in force next month.
- The text covers nearby food shops such as bakeries, butchers, greengrocers and florists, plus cinemas and theaters, with work limited to volunteers paid double and refusal shielded from discipline.
- Large retailers are excluded, while unions and left parties plan a rally outside the Assembly and warn that employer pressure would make “voluntary” shifts hard to refuse, with the CGT citing up to 1.4 million workers at stake.
- Under current law May 1 is the only public holiday that must be a nonworking day for employees, which lets an artisan open alone but bars hiring staff that day and has led to fines and court fights, including Vendée bakeries acquitted in April 2025 and a Paris baker facing a large penalty after a 2021 inspection.
- Labour Minister Jean‑Pierre Farandou says the government would issue the needed decree in time if the bill passes, while Gabriel Attal has pressed the case with a video, a petition and letters to bakers and florists that critics and fact‑checkers called misleading on what is already allowed.