Business

Keep it easy like Sunday morning

The debate continues over Sunday shopping in Northern Ireland
The debate continues over Sunday shopping in Northern Ireland The debate continues over Sunday shopping in Northern Ireland

ON Friday the consultation closed for Belfast City Council’s proposal to re-designate as a ‘holiday resort’, as a wheeze to skirt around a popular prohibition on large shops opening for trading all day for 18 Sundays a year.

But what of those who would be ‘expected’ to work in those large shops if Belfast’s Councillors consent to the demands of what they have deemed “a strong lobby within the city”?

The initial point to be made is that there are things to do on Sundays in Belfast, many of which are healthy, social and provided by Belfast City Council – public services such as parks and walkways. The swings were unchained years ago.

There are some cafes open for tourists or local clients. There are small shops where newspapers and groceries can be bought. This may not seem that much, but it is more than is available in many European cities, most notably those in Germany, France and Italy.

Across the EU, the Working Time Directive encourages workers receiving at least one day off. This directive has been the target of years of sustained and inaccurate vitriol from the British right-wing press and anti-European politicians. What these same politicians cannot fathom is how productivity is much higher in Germany, France and Italy.

We disagree with the conclusion of the Council’s Draft Equality Screening, which uses the language of Section 75 to interpret ‘Equality of Opportunity’ in a narrow way, simply interpreting the same rights as consumers. As workers, however, Equality of Opportunity could be subjectively restricted if they refuse to work on a Sunday.

Sunday opening will restrict the freedom of choice and the future opportunities of workers, and given the profile of shop workers, that means another obstacle planted in the path of the precarious.

In recent research, the Nevin Economic Research Institute has tried to explore the quality of jobs available in Northern Ireland, and Dr Lisa Wilson identified that: “Those in semi-routine/routine occupations, those in part-time employment and those with low working hours have a higher risk of having low levels of control or flexibility over one’s work. Low satisfaction is also more common among those with below degree (30 per cent) or no educational qualifications (20 per cent), when compared to those with degree level or higher qualifications (18 per cent).”

The less qualified, the younger, the more precarious you are, the less control you feel you have. You do not have meaningful control over your working environment as an individual worker. The cost of your convenience could be the coercion of others.

That is why members of the shop workers’ union Usdaw object so strongly to this proposal. A survey of local members found that 85 per cent thought shops should not open longer on Sundays and half of respondents have some caring responsibilities, either for children or sick or elderly relatives.

Of these, over three quarters work some Sundays already and over two-thirds are already under pressure to work on Sundays. Some 41 per cent find it difficult to arrange suitable alternative care whilst they are at work.

More shopping opportunities will not improve the lifestyles of precarious workers. Collective bargaining, a realistic living wage and quality public services will, however, and the best thing the Council could do would be to encourage such positive public goods across the commercial life of Belfast.

:: Owen Reidy is ICTU assistant general secretary