French PM fuels row with trip to buy baguettes

Sébastien Lecornu visited a boulangerie on Labour Day, defying unions who say 1 May must remain a mandatory rest day. French PM fuels row with trip to buy baguettes Copyright current_year BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking. Copyright current_year BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking. Smiling French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu paid for several baguettes in front of news cameras in a village bakery French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu (left) pays for baguettes during a visit to a village bakery in Saint-Julien-Chapteuil, central France. Reporters (on the right) are seen filming the prime minister. Photo: 1 May 2026 French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has visited a village bakery to buy several baguettes on Labour Day, reigniting a row with unions who argue that 1 May should remain a compulsory rest day. "Let's have several... at least four," he said, paying at the bakery in Saint-Julien-Chapteuil, central France. The politician also bought some flowers from a nearby florist. The visit was part of a government drive to exempt independent bakeries and flower shops from mandatory rest on Labour Day - a public holiday across the country. Under French law, only essential services such as hospitals and hotels may be open, with employees being paid double wages. The status of bakeries and flower shops is unclear. In response, Marylise Léon, the General Secretary of France's leading union, said: "Politicians going to a bakery, I think that's part of a political spectacle that we don't need today. We need to show what the reality of a bakery worker is like". On Friday, Lecornu also phoned another baker, who had received a fine from labour inspectors for staying open on 1 May. The prime minister reassured the baker named Eric that he would not have to pay, according to France's BFMTV and Europe1 news websites. The baker potentially faces a fine of €5,250 (£4,532; $6,168) - €750 for each of his seven employees working on Labour Day. Earlier this week, the French government presented a bill allowing bakeries and florists to be open on 1 May. The proposal - which needs a parliamentary approval - says employees must state in writing that they volunteer to work, and should also be paid double for that day. The government has been encouraging bakers to work on 1 May, describing them as being "indispensable to the continuity of social life". Meanwhile, labour unions say staff in many cases could be pressured by their employers to volunteer to work or risk their employment contracts. The unions warn that soon employees across France would be required to work on public holidays. In April, the unions said in a joint statement that "social history shows us that each time a principle is undermined, exemptions gradually increase until they become the rule", according to the AFP news agency. The French delegation with their baguettes at the Unesco meeting French baguette gets Unesco heritage status French bakers beat longest baguette world record Sean McGovern is before the non-jury Special Criminal Court and is due to be sentenced on June 8. The driver hit a parked car and veered off the road into the river - about 12 miles south of Paris - early on Thursday. Russia says the annual commemoration of Soviet victory in World War Two will not feature military vehicles or cadets. DFDS announces its summer timetable as ferry returns to Jersey after accident. The UK has issued similar advice, telling citizens who stay, that they do so at their own risk. Authorities say the Coco platform has been linked to sexual abuse of children, drug offences, rape and murder. Hakima Boukerouis is the fifth woman to be identified through an international police campaign. The swarm gathers underneath the saddle of a bike locked to the railings of a metro station.