France's Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has pledged there will be no "forcing through" of a controversial bill that would allow employees to work on May 1st — the only public holiday in France on which work is legally prohibited — after eight major trade unions jointly wrote to him in protest. The proposed law, already passed by the Senate (France's upper house of parliament) last July, would permit work on May Day in neighbourhood food shops, cultural venues such as cinemas and theatres, and potentially a wider range of large businesses. Unions condemned what they called a brutal attack on a historic symbol of the labour movement, and accused the government of using a procedural manoeuvre to fast-track the bill into force before the end of April. Lecornu has since tasked Labour Minister Jean-Pierre Farandou with consulting unions to find an acceptable compromise, with talks expected to define a narrow list of businesses that could lawfully open on May Day.