France's Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu buys during a visit to a bakery to mark Labour Day in Saint-Julien-Chapteuil, south-central France, on May 1, 2026. KENZO TRIBOUILLARD / AFP

French bakeries sold crusty baguettes and flaky croissants with government backing Friday, May 1, defying labor unions arguing that May 1 should remain a sacred day of compulsory rest.

Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu ordered several baguettes in front of the cameras in the village of Saint-Julien-Chapteuil in central France. "Let's have several... at least four," he said, as he sought to promote a new bill to clearly exempt independent bread and flower shops from mandatory rest on Labor Day.

Under French law, "May 1 is a public holiday and a non-working day." Essential services – such as hospitals and hotels – can remain open but must pay their staff double.

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But there has been confusion about whether bakeries can open. Labor inspectors on the public holiday in 2024 reported five bakers to the authorities for operating, causing them to be hauled before a court. The bakers were all acquitted last year, but their plight sparked debate across France.

The government earlier this week encouraged bakers to work on May 1, saying they were "indispensable to the continuity of social life." It also said florists should open to sell fragrant lily of the valley, which is traditionally sold on Labor Day in France.

On Wednesday, the cabinet put forward a bill – that has yet to go to a vote in parliament – to allow both bakeries and florists to open on the first day of May, so long as employees volunteer to work in writing and are paid double wages.

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But the country's main unions argue that no employee is truly free to volunteer when they are seeking to keep a work contract. They also fear French workers will soon all be required to work on the holiday. "Social history shows us that each time a principle is undermined, exemptions gradually increase until they become the rule," they warned in a joint statement last month.