UNI supports strike in Greece against law on shop-opening on Sundays
The Greek UNI affiliated union for the commerce sector (OIYE) called for a strike action against the legislation that allows for shop-opening on Sundays.
During the strike, the Greek commerce workers organised a series of demonstrations throughout the country. November the 3rd 2013 was the first Sunday that the new law permitted shops to open form 11.00 – 20.00.
Strikers closed large shops in the big city centres in Athens, Thessaloniki, and Patras, whereas in the majority of the smaller cities the local associations of commerce employers did not open the shops at all.
According to the law passed last summer, with the opposition of both the trade unions and the associations of employers in the SMEs, shops can be freely open for 7 Sundays per year: a) 2 Sundays in Christmas period, b) 1 Sunday in the Easter and c) 4 Sundays during sales’ period.
Moreover, the local authorities can make decisions after consultations to allow shop-opening for more than 7 Sundays per year on the condition that shops are not bigger from 250 square meters and do not belong to a commercial chain.
In Greece, the ban on shop-opening on Sundays (except for tourist areas) was based on an agreement between OIYE and the employers and certified by state regulation.
OIYE believes that Sunday opening will result in a catastrophic measure for SMEs and the employment in the sector. Especially in a period of big depression and economic crisis where workers and consumers have not enough money to live decently, Sunday shopping and Sunday openings will favour big retailers, while it will destroy SMEs, which are predominant in Greece and employ more than the 80% of the workers.
Liberalisation of Sunday opening comes as a consequence of the general deregulation measures that affected not only market rules but also labour relations, such as the abolition of the sectoral collective bargaining in Greece including for the Commerce sector.
OIYE, member of the European Sunday alliance together with UNI Europa Commerce, continues to oppose Sunday opening and fights for better working conditions for Greek commercial workers.
For more information on the European Sunday Alliance: http://www.europeansundayalliance.eu/site/whoweare?SWS=f464929e4a445ab44ba2b2982d7a8078