STUC Raise One Cheer for Christmas Vote

The Scottish TUC welcomed today’s vote by the Scottish Parliament to ban large stores from opening on Christmas Day as a small step in the right direction but expressed their disappointment at the watered down Executive proposal for a code of practice for New Year’s Day.

STUC General Secretary Grahame Smith said “The vote on Christmas day is very welcome however the Executive proposal for New Year lacks backbone. Vulnerable workers who are pressured to work on New Year’s Day will have to register a formal complaint before the Scottish Executive takes notice. This is a course of action these workers are unlikely to take.

“The Minister’s promise of a ban if the code of practice is broken is of little value to vulnerable workers without an adequate monitoring mechanism.

“After the time, effort and energy put into this proposal to have half of the bill effectively disappear on the last day through the actions of the Executive is a very unsatisfactory outcome”

“We will seek discussions with the Minister on how the code of practice will be monitored and on the trigger for a legal ban”

STUC Assistant Secretary Mary Senior added “It is particularly disappointing on the eve of International Women’s Day that shop workers, who are predominantly female, are not receiving wholehearted support to achieve the work life balance the Executive claims to support”

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