this post was submitted on 02 May 2026
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cross-posted from: https://lemmy.zip/post/63557487

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[–] Fichtre@programming.dev 2 points 1 month ago

A bit more context from the article (and being a lefty French) :

  • 1st of May is labour day, where few fields are allowed to work with severe conditions for leisure ones (ie. Restaurants, hotels) : only volunteers can work, you must double their usual wage
  • The right parties have been trying to undermine French public holidays for years, if not decades (if people want to work, let 'em / we need moneeeeeey / right wings BS)
  • Earlier in 2025, the government even proposed to remove one public holiday and they chose the 8th of May (which marks the WW2 allied victory : the move had all the wrong symbols, coming from a government that always shies away from anti-fascism. Especially since there are many other religious holidays that could fit). They also wanted to remove the monday after Easter [not in article]
  • So, going after Labour day when the right wing government has done nothing but weaken workers rights ever since it came to power is definitely another attack : usually, unions and left wing parties demonstrate on Labour day and everyone can enjoy a day off
  • So they start small with florists and bakeries ! Let them work, if they want to ! Same conditions as restaurants and hotels !
  • Buuuut everyone knows it's a foot holding the door for more leniency later
  • Florists might actually be more impacted though (bakeries have a steadier income over the year, we're not called oui oui baguette for nothing). Labour day is also synonym with lily of the valley, and those are sold illegally on labour day by street hawkers because florists are closed. Buuuuut since street hawkers prices are low, I don't see florists competing especially since the profiles of illegal vendors is unusual : it's mostly white families and youngsters (sometimes Romanis, but hardly where I live) [not in article]
  • A draft of the law exists but needs to be adopted in parliament. So for this Labour day, it was indeed illegal for florists and bakets to open
  • So the prime minister said that no controls will be done throughout the day, and even intervened to cancel a fine given by labour inspectors (which is a gross abuse of power : no prime minister can do that but hey, remember the anti-fascism part in my comment ? Abusing powet starts here too)
  • So the government keep doing its stupid union-bashing and even if this move could help some small companies, let's face it : it ain't for the small companies. More actions are possible to relieve these fields, and it ain't in removing Labour day for them (ie. Support florists by forbidding big stores to sell flowers at a very low price point) [Not in article]