It was decried as “a direct attack” on France, lambasted as “a symbol of social violence” and, to one critic, compared to being given the finger.
It is safe to say French Prime minister François Bayrou’s attempt last month to scrap two of the country’s 11 public holidays went down like a lead balloon.
The proposal for the 2026 budget hoped that two extra days of work would boost output and help plug a yawning government deficit. “The entire nation must work more to produce [more],” Bayrou declared, comparing the month of May, dotted with four public holidays, to a Gruyère cheese full of holes.
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