French workers enjoyed their third public holiday this month yesterday after the government brought back the traditional Pentecost holiday but there was confusion over a break unions said would be taken back in other ways. Whit Monday was restored as a public holiday last month after three years in which it was an unpaid day of work to fund special ?solidarity? measures for elderly people after the 2003 heat wave that killed some 15,000 people in France, the ?day of solidarity for older persons and the handicapped? was intended to fill gaps in care for older and frail people revealed by the crisis.

Monday?s holiday followed May 1 Labour Day and May 8 holiday commemorating the end of WW2. It has allowed many workers to enjoy an extended five-day weekend by taking last Friday off. But unions have complained the government is penalising workers by maintaining the principle of a ?day of solidarity? which would be applied flexibly. ?We dispute the need to require employees to renounce their legal working time limits every time there?s a need to finance a solidarity measure,? Bernard Thibault, head of powerful CGT union told RTL radio. The ?solidarity? day raised 2.1 billion euros for the National Solidarity Fund through a 0.3 percent levy on salaries last year, but was followed inconsistently.

?It?s impossible to recognise any logic in the situation given how much it can vary from one departement (region) or town to another,? the daily Le Parisien said. In addition to the three holidays so far in May, many workers will have an extra day off because this year Ascension Day holiday fell on May 1 and some workplace agreements allow staff to take a day in compensation. Unchanged, however, are the monstrous traffic jams expected as holidaymakers return home in time for work today.