The unions are calling on MPs to maintain May 1st as a "paid holiday".

Currently, shops are not allowed to have their employees work on May 1st, only self-employed tradespeople are allowed to do so, with the exception of activities where work cannot be interrupted, such as public transport or hospitals.

The bill, introduced by Hervé Marseille (UDI), leader of the centrist senators, following protests from bakers denouncing labor inspections on May 1st, extends the exemptions to local food shops, florists, as well as theaters and cinemas. It stipulates that May 1st will still be paid double time for those who work, on a purely voluntary basis.

In a joint statement, the CFDT, CGT, FO, CFE-CGC, CFTC, Unsa, Solidaires and FSU assert that "every time a principle is called into question, the exemption gradually extends to everyone. Sunday work is an illustration of this."

"Once the work is generalized on that day, the increases no longer have any reason to exist. As for the 'voluntary', added to reassure, it does not really exist due to the link of subordination inherent in the employment contract, especially in very small businesses," the text continues.

The unions also believe that extending the work exemptions to May 1st will be to the detriment of "small independent local businesses which until now could already open on this day without facing competition from large companies".

"Let us remember that the proposed social regression involving two public holidays sparked a major budget dispute last July," Thomas Vacheron, confederal secretary of the CGT, told AFP.

The trade union organizations also remind us that May 1st "commemorates the struggles for the rights of workers" and in particular "the bloody shooting of workers in Fourmies on May 1st, 1891".