As the story has today been heavily trailed in the gutter press, you can bet your bottom dollar that George Osborne will “relax Sunday trading laws” in his “emergency” budget tomorrow. You might not believe a word you read in the Sun, Mail, Telegraph, Times and Mirror, but the fact that they are all running with the story means that the government has it to prepare the ground for an announcement that will please many, but horrify others.
Like many people, I do not subscribe to any “faith” so the reason I like Sunday has nothing to do with religious superstition. I like the fact that Sunday is a bit different from the rest of the week and that many places don’t open, like the places where I worked! Not too selfish, then! But I also like doing things on a Sunday. I like going to places, which involve various forms of transport, sport and leisure activities and, vitally, going to the pub. So a lot of people do work on a Sunday and it is they who should occupy our thoughts. When Osborne unveils his proposals tomorrow, I hope but strongly doubt that employees will be at the forefront of his thoughts.
I do not think people should be forced to work on Sundays, but then which group of people do I mean by that? Nurses, policemen, supermarket staff, cleaners, carers do work on Sundays because they would not be employed in their roles if they didn’t agree to do so. I worked briefly for Asda last year. It was overall a very good experience. They are well-managed locally, they have a good work ethic and they respect their employees in every way, except in relation to the wages they pay them. I was told in no uncertain terms that if I accepted a job with them, I would need to work on a Sunday at the same rate of pay (16p an hour over the minimum wage – 21p over after a few months) as I would get during the week. That was part of the deal, take it or leave it. It was not a question of already working there and then being given the option to work weekends: it was a decision I would have to make at the outset. I am not complaining about that. They were upfront and honest from the start, but I felt that staff, religious or not, should where possible have the choice to work on a Sunday if they do wish and if they do, they should then be paid a weekend premium. If someone played golf instead of work on a Sunday morning, they should have the right to do that as those who go to church. There should be no privilege for the devout, otherwise muslim staff would skip work on a Friday to attend prayers and the likes of Marks and Spencer would close every Saturday.
It is ridiculous that my local Co-op can open for 12 hours a day, but my local big supermarkets can open for just six. It’s an anomaly and in business terms it doesn’t make sense. My concern is that George Osborne will seek to further exploit workers by compelling them to work on Sundays and he can’t be allowed to do that.
The reality is that at the moment you can do virtually all the things you want to do on a Sunday, just for a shorter period. There’s a debate to be had as to whether we keep Sunday special for everyone, not just the faithful, and there’s certainly an argument that says that workers should be fairly rewarded for working on a Sunday and indeed not compelled to work on it.
The trouble is that when Osborne refers to “red tape” and “regulation” getting in the way of business, he actually means workers’ rights and I don’t trust him any further than I could throw him.
