Stéphane Peu, deputy of the PCF in Seine-Saint-Denis and president of the GDR group at the National Assembly, was the political guest on franceinfo. He discussed the withdrawal of the labor reform around May 1st, negotiations with bakers and florists, and the temporary abandonment of the Yadan law against new forms of anti-Semitism.
Serge Cimino: The first question is simple: is the battle around May 1st over or not? The Prime Minister, as seen in the news, is set to meet with representatives of bakers and florists this afternoon. Is he trying to amend the rule of the public holiday, rest day, and pay?
Stéphane Peu: First, we successfully defeated the law proposed by Gabriel Attal, supported by Marine Le Pen, at the National Assembly. This law, supposedly aimed at helping artisan bakers and florists to open, was actually a big lie. In reality, the text proposed by Gabriel Attal mainly allowed large supermarkets to open: food and gardening stores.
It effectively widened the scope of the sectors concerned until now.
The artisan bakers played a marginal role. The main focus was on supermarkets. In total, one and a half million employees were affected by this bill.
It’s important to note that there was a bill, a preliminary motion was filed by those who supported the text, and the Prime Minister suspended the mixed joint committee between deputies and senators. The law is therefore, for now, postponed, but it seems to be working on negotiations between the stakeholders.
Yes, and this seems normal to me. When we saw how Gabriel Attal wanted to impose this law at all costs, without a real parliamentary debate, we proposed a vote of no confidence to the other left-wing groups, especially to the communist group. In addition, the trade unions reconstituted themselves, as they did three years ago during the pension reform debate, to say: stop.
So, we sort of cornered the government: on one hand, the left-wing parliamentarians, thanks to our initiative with a vote of no confidence; on the other hand, the trade unions. The Prime Minister then made, in my opinion, a wise decision: to withdraw this bill and affirm that legislation on labor cannot crush both Parliament and social dialogue.
If I understand correctly: a wise decision by the Prime Minister, victory for a reconstituted left, in the image of the trade union front. But do these ongoing discussions mean that you would be inclined to consider some concessions for bakers and florists? Sophie Binet, general secretary of the CGT, says she is not opposed to the opening of bakeries, but seems more reserved regarding florists, especially because May 1st is also an important moment for selling lilies of the valley for the Communist Party.
Without going into too much detail, the situation is different depending on the sectors. For artisan bakers, there is a collective agreement. Within this, signed by all unions, including the CGT, it is possible to find a specific arrangement for May 1st.
However, in the florists sector, there is no equivalent collective agreement. The scope is much broader than just artisan florists. We would need to focus back on craftsmanship.
Do you fear a generalized opening? In Gabriel Attal’s text, there was a mention of retail. Do you fear that it will mainly benefit supermarkets rather than small businesses?
Exactly. The collective agreement for florists should be limited, like for bakeries, to only the artisanal sector. In this case, I think there is a path to reach a compromise.
A compromise that would go through negotiations with the trade unions?
Yes, through a branch agreement.
Another parliamentary news: yesterday, the withdrawal of the Yadan law, named after the Renaissance deputy Caroline Yadan. She wanted to combat new forms of anti-Semitism. Its opponents, including you, believe it was a liberty-restricting text aimed at banning any criticism of Israel. The Prime Minister announced that a new bill could be presented in June 2026. Is this a victory for you, even if the text has to come back later?
The text will indeed return. The Prime Minister has indicated wanting to open a transpartisan dialogue to find a consensus.
Like many, we are deeply concerned about the rise of anti-Semitism. The increase in anti-Semitic acts and statements is extremely worrisome for every republican and democrat. I remind you that one of the main laws currently allowing the sanctioning of anti-Semitism, denialism, and racism is the Gayssot law, carried by a communist deputy, Jean-Claude Gayssot. So, we are particularly vigilant on this issue.
But the Yadan law followed a different logic. It was based on international events, notably the situation in the Middle East, to try to criminalize any criticism of the state of Israel. This is absolutely intolerable and, I would even go further, counterproductive. Because today, the main factor in the progression of anti-Semitism in the world, in my opinion, is the policy pursued by the extreme right government of Benyamin Netanyahu, which tramples on international law.
