Bosses must show more Xmas spirit…
Wednesday 18 December 2013It’s that time of the year again, the run into Christmas and all the madness that goes with it, the rushing around, the last minute presents and the short break with family and friends.
For shop and bar workers the Christmas period means more pressure at work, longer hours and the shortest of breaks off work (Christmas Day).
Over the past years, retail sector employers have turned what was a busy time of the year followed by a decent short break (December 25, 26, 27) into a busy time of the year with virtually no time with family and friends for retail workers.
Retail employers in their quest to chase every last single Christmas euro engaged in a bidding war of opening hours at the expense of the health, safety and well-being of retail staff.
The irony of the current situation is that none of the retailers are any better off, they have cannibalised their own consumer spending and now have to resort to phony pre-Christmas sales and pre-emptive New Year sales.
The very same false economy drove the same retailers down the cull-de-sac of 24-hour trading and unlimited Sunday trading when like sheep they followed each other until the economic rationale of opening all these extended hours disappeared.
As a result today we have seen some retraction of opening hours. While successive governments have said they cannot legislate for shop opening hours because of constitutional issues, the rest of Europe still protects and recognises the rights of retail workers to free time at Christmas and other important times so as to afford retail workers decent breaks.
Retail by and large is not such an essential service that it cannot close for two or three days over the Christmas period. The world for customers will not end if they cannot buy that shirt or blouse on St Stephen’s Day. Mandate calls on all retail employers to show some common sense and concern for their hard working staff.
A decent job equals decent wages and a decent break.
