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Arena Magazine 2006 Issue 3 Summer Arena |
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Usdaw children march on Westminster
Some retailers want total deregulation of Sunday trading laws. Usdaw wants to keep the 6 hour limit.
Extending Sunday opening hours will have a devastating impact on the lives of millions of shopworkers and their families, that was the message from Usdaw's crack team of junior lobbyists who travelled to London to meet Government trade ministers.
The union's young ambassadors were helping their parents deliver a submission opposing any extension of Sunday opening hours as part of a review of the current six hour limit commissioned by the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI).
"It was fitting that our members' children helped deliver our evidence that makes it clear six trading hours is quite enough time to shop on a Sunday," said Usdaw General Secretary John Hannett.
"Not surprisingly 95 per cent of our members oppose any extension of Sunday shopping hours and when we commissioned an independent poll of Britain's shoppers we found 64 per cent of them didn't need any longer to spend their money on Sundays.
"So far over 273 MPs from across the political spectrum support us, so our message to the DTI is loud and clear: shoppers don't want it, shopworkers don't want it, their families don't want it and nearly half of Parliament is opposed. So please think again and keep the limit at six hours."
The campaigning kids were joined by their parents who work on Sundays. Working mum Debbie Davidson is typical of shopworkers facing a weekly battle to achieve a healthy work/life balance.
"I speak on behalf of all my colleagues when I say that Sunday is a traditional day of rest, so it should be a day to spend with the family and a day when as a family we can do something together," Debbie said. "Retail staff work long enough already to serve customers for the six hours that we trade. We look forward to having Sunday tea together because we can no longer have Sunday lunch together."
Retailers themselves cannot agree on the best way forward. Some favour complete deregulation, others prefer partial change, and some like the existing rules. "Our position is clear - workers and their families come first," said John Hannett.
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