Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK

POLITICS

How France will mark May 1st under lockdown

Today marks May 1st and although the concept of a day off work is now purely theoretical to many people, France will be doing its best to put on a traditional May Day while under lockdown.

Published: 27 April 2020 15:57 CEST
Updated: 1 May 2020 07:05 CEST
How France will mark May 1st under lockdown
May 1st will look a little different this year. Photo: AFP

May 1st is usually a big holiday in the nation's calendar, but this year things will be a little different.

Public holiday

May 1st falls on a Friday this year so most people get a day off work, although that is a largely theoretical concept to the millions of people unable to work due to the lockdown.

French bank holidays are taken on whichever day they happen to fall on the calendar meaning that in 2021 and 2022 May 1st falls on a weekend and therefore doesn't mean an extra day off.

To really rub salt into that wound the same also applies to May 8th, which is usually a public holiday in France to mark the end of World War II in Europe. 

Social distancing rules mean that this type of protest will not be possible this year. Photo: AFP

Protests

Also known as the Fête du Travail, or Labour Day, May 1st is usually a day of widespread union-organised demonstrations.

Although protests and demos seem quintessentially French, this tradition is actually borrowed from the USA and a huge strike in Chicago in 1886.

On May 1st, 35,000 workers walked out of their jobs, joined by tens of thousands more in the next couple days, leading a national movement for an eight-hour work day. 

Three years later, France decided to establish an “International Workers' Day” with the same goal, but it didn't officially become a paid day off until 1941 under the Vichy regime.

This year street demos are obviously out, but unions are still keen to mark the day and have instead invited people to demonstrate on their balconies.

 

The theme of the protests is the 'forgotten workers' – the low-paid but essential workers who have kept the country running during the weeks of lockdown.

The lily-of-the-valley is the traditional May Day flower. Photo: AFP

Flowers

But it's not all protests, some people mark the day with flowers.

On the first of May in 1561, France's King Charles IX was given a muguet flower, or lily-of-the valley in English, as a lucky charm and liked it so much that he decided to offer them each year to the ladies of the court.

They're usually sold in florists on by street sellers, neither of which will be possible this year.

However the country's agriculture minister Didier Guillaume has moved to reassure people that they will still be able to get a May Day muguet – this year they will be available in supermarkets and other 'essential' stores that are allowed to remain open during the lockdown.

He has also called on people to buy them to show solidarity with under-pressure French growers.

 

Fête de la Terre

In medieval France, this time was a celebration of the season rather than of the workers. 

A feast would be hosted for three days in celebration, during which time musical parades would take place with people dancing and riding mules adorned with ribbons through the villages, to an enormous banquet.

This tradition is best preserved in rural areas of France, such as the mountainous department of Isère, or the south west town of Cahors, where the weekend surrounding the 1st is usually one of celebration, using it as an excuse to come together and enjoy the good weather, with parades and markets of regional products.

Sadly this won't be possible this year, and the far right political party Rassemblement National's usual May 1st 'patriotic banquet' won't be happening either.

The tree of May

This is one of the more quirky May Day traditions and involves young men in some parts of France cutting down a tree during the night between the 30th of April and May 1st and then replanting it by the door of the woman they hoped to marry.

Other versions of this tradition saw the May tree placed in front of a church or at the home of a newlywed couple.

It was pretty much a historical relic anyway and we're not sure which box you would tick on the lockdown permission form to cover tree-related courting rituals.

 

 

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.
For members

ELECTIONS

Explained: The party manifestos for France’s snap elections

As the formal campaign period begins in France's snap legislative elections, here's a look at the manifestos of the main parties and what they mean for foreigners living here.

Published: 17 June 2024 12:13 CEST
Explained: The party manifestos for France's snap elections

Monday marks the start of the official campaign period for France’s snap legislative elections – a brief two-week campaign before the first round of voting on Sunday, June 30th followed by round two a week later on July 7th. 

Here’s a look at the manifestos of the main parties, with a particular emphasis on any immigration policies that would affect the lives of foreigners in France, or those planning to move here some day.

Renaissance

First up is Emmanuel Macron’s centrist party Renaissance – its platform was unveiled by Macron himself in a televised press conference, with a more detailed programme unveiled later by prime minister Gabriel Attal.

The party is at a bit of a disadvantage when it comes to the programme, since its main policy goals are already known and it is limited by financial and other factors from announcing any especially bold new goals. The result was that Macron in his launch speech was left to talk about policies that had already been announced or vague goals such as holding a ‘national debate’ on France’s secularism policy.

Macron also framed the election as a ‘battle against extremism’ saying: “I hope that when the time comes, men and women of goodwill who will have been able to say no to the extremes will come together… to build a shared, sincere project that is useful to the country.” 

Programme – Much of the programme will be familiar since Macron was after all re-elected in 2022 and set out his five-year plan at the time. On the economy and the environment, the president said that his party would continue to grow foreign investment in France, cut unemployment and work towards the ‘green reindustrialisation’ of the country – a Macron pet project to create jobs and industry in France by embracing new green technologies such as car batteries.

He also re-committed to France’s domestic nuclear energy programme, and to France’s strong support for Ukraine.

Among the new parts were a ‘great national debate’ on the tricky subject of French state secularism (laïcité) and limits to access to screens for children – as recommended by a commission of experts.

Attal also unveiled some new measures on the key issue of the cost-of-living, with promises to triple the ‘Macron bonus’ paid to some employees from €3,000 a year to €10,000, index-linking pensions to inflation, reducing utility bills by 15 percent next winter and help for parents in buying school supplies.

He also proposes axing the notaire fee (in reality a kind of tax on home purchases) for any property purchased for under €250,000 and setting up an extra renovation fund to give grants to property-owners to repairs and energy works.

Some ongoing Macronist legislation such as changing the law on assisted dying has been interrupted on its journey through parliament, but would likely restart if the party wins a majority.

The party’s programme makes no specific suggestions for changes to the immigration system, but it did just introduce a new immigration law in January that – among other things – introduces a language test requirement for certain types of residency cards and raises the language level required for French citizenship through naturalisation.

Front Populaire

France’s largest leftist political parties have struck an election pact not to stand candidates against each other – in order to avoid dividing the leftist vote.

This means that the hard-left La France Insoumise will field 229 candidates, the centre-left Parti Socialiste will field 175, the Green EELV 92 and the Communists 50. It also means that the parties are presenting a single, joint manifesto under the banner of Nouveau Front Populaire – which has been the subject of much argument and some awkward compromises.

Programme – much of the programme is concerned with cancelling recent Macronist laws. Among the laws it says it will cancel are the new immigration bill – the one that introduces French language tests for certain types of residency card and raises the language level required for French citizenship.

The manifesto also proposes introducing a 10-year carte de séjour residency card ‘as the standard card’ – at present the standard model is for one-year cards initially and then move on to five-year and then 10-year cards, although there are significant variations based on your personal status (eg working, student, retired or family member).

Also set for the chop are Macron’s changes to unemployment benefits plus a cancellation of the price rises in electricity and gas and the reintroduction of the ‘wealth tax’ scrapped by Macron in 2018. Meanwhile the pension age would be dropped down to 60 (cancelling Macron’s law raising it from 62 to 64 and dropping it another two years).

The party would also raise the Smic (minimum wage) to €1,600 a month.

The environment forms a key part of the manifesto with a range of green incentives plus tax and financing rules that would clamp down on fossil fuels.

On foreign policy there are some delicately worded compromises since views on Ukraine and Gaza had previously split the leftist alliance. The group promises to “unfailingly defend the sovereignty and freedom of the Ukrainian people” including by delivering weapons and writing off debt. On Gaza, the party would recognise the Palestinian state and embargo arms supplies to Israel.

Policy towards the EU – a topic that divides the left – is left to one side.

Rassemblement National

The far-right Rassemblement National party will be joined by at least some candidates from the right-wing Les Republicains party, although the internal party divide over that pact will see some LR candidates independently. 

Programme – the party makes immigration one of its key concerns, with a commitment to “drastically reduce legal and illegal immigration and deport foreign criminals” listed as a priority.

The programme opposes both non-economic migration and family reunification – no detail is given on changes to the visa or residency card system in this area, but it seems likely that anyone wanting to move for non-work related reasons (eg retirees) would face restrictions. Likewise spouse visas would be affected by any changes to family reunification rules.

Non-French citizens would only be able to access social benefits such as housing benefits or caring allowances after working in France for five years and there would also be a ‘French first’ preference for access to employment and social housing.

Residency permits would be withdrawn for any non-French citizens who have been unemployed for more than one year.

Asylum claims would exclusively be processed outside France.

When it comes to French citizenship, the party wants to abolish the droit du sol, which gives the right to French citizenship to children born in France to foreign parents and limit access to citizenship for adults “on the basis of merit and assimilation” – it’s not clear how this would differ from the current system where candidates must already prove that they speak French and understand French culture and politics.

The party also has a strong line on law and order – doubling the number of magistrates, increasing fines for certain offences, adding those convicted of street harassment to the sex offenders’ register and creating a “presumption of legitimate defence” for police officers who kill or injure members of the public.

This article is part of a series on election platforms in France, we will look at each party’s economic platform in a separate piece. You can follow all the latest election news in our election section HERE, and you can also sign up here to receive our bi-weekly election breakdown during the campaign period

SHOW COMMENTS