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The French government’s effort to relax business restrictions on Labor Day has caused strong opposition from labor organizations following Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu’s visit to a bakery that was open on the public holiday to buy a baguette. According to reports from the BBC and BFM TV on the 1st, Lecornu visited a bakery in the central town of Saint-Julien-Chapteuil, purchased a baguette, and then stopped by a nearby flower shop. He also reportedly called a bakery that was fined 5,250 euros (about 9.07 million Korean won) for having employees work on Labor Day, saying the fine should not be paid.

Experts view Lecornu’s actions as an effort to support the government’s new policy aimed at extending business permissions on Labor Day. The French government has recently introduced a bill to Parliament that would limit the required closures on Labor Day and allow some essential businesses, such as bakeries and flower shops, to remain open. At present, businesses are not allowed to operate on Labor Day except for essential services like hospitals and hotels, and employees working on that day are entitled to double pay.

The government’s plan states that working on Labor Day should be a “voluntary decision” requiring written approval, while ensuring double pay. Officials claim the policy is designed to minimize daily disruptions by enabling more businesses essential to people’s lives to remain open.

Nevertheless, labor organizations strongly disagree with this action. They claim that the “disparity in power” between employers and employees might transform “voluntary work” into a form of pressure. They also caution that the policy could establish a precedent, leading to a gradual increase in permitted work on Labor Day, ultimately making the public holiday insignificant.

Marilys Léon, the secretary-general of the French Democratic Confederation of Labour (CFDT), France’s biggest labor union, condemned Lecornu’s bakery visit as a “political stunt” that doesn’t reflect the actual concerns of workers. “Highlighting the true working conditions in bakeries is more crucial,” she stated to the BBC.

Prominent French trade unions also released a shared statement in the previous month that criticized the government’s position, noting, “Society has repeatedly witnessed values being undermined, exceptions increasing, and regulations ultimately discarded.”

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