FRANCE READIES FOR PENTECOST MONDAY CHAOS

PARIS, May 11 (AFP) - France faces a day of confusion next Monday as public and private sector workers threaten to defy a government decision to abolish a bank holiday in order to raise funds for the elderly and handicapped.

Recent opinion polls show that three out of four French workers do not plan to work on Monday, rejecting the government's idea that they should give up a cherished bank holiday in order to boost the "National Solidarity Fund".

The idea for a "day of solidarity" followed the devastating 2003 heatwave in which the deaths of some 15,000 elderly people were shown to have been partially caused by the absence of basic care.

The law abolishing the holiday stipulates that companies and local administrations can choose to work days other than Pentecost Monday - the day after the Christian feast of Pentecost - if there is agreement with unions.

"The day of solidarity is a call to brotherhood among all French people. It's an act of generosity by French society for itself, for its future," [Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin declared].

The prime minister, however, did not make any mention of possible sanctions should private or public sector companies fail to adhere to the new law.

French solidarity and brotherhood and generosity don't much rate with the French where a day off is at risk.

Sorry, Granny, but it might be warm enough to don a speedo and hit the beach.