Responding to the announcement from Justice Minister Kenny MacAskill that planned research into the possible impact of a ban on big shops trading on New Year's Day is to be scrapped, STUC General Secretary Grahame Smith said,
“It is deeply disappointing that the SNP administration has seen fit to drop this important research.
“It is difficult to make sense of the Minister’s view that a ban on New Year’s Day trading would ‘hit tourism and burden businesses with red tape’ when so few large retailers currently open on New Year’s Day. To claim that a ban could ‘harm Scotland’s international competitiveness’ is simply absurd.
“The purpose of the Christmas Day and New Year’s Day Trading Bill, introduced by Karen Whitefield MSP and supported by USDAW, was to ensure that the creeping commercialisation of an important Scottish holiday could not take place and that vital family time for hard working and often low paid Scots was protected.
“In refusing to even contemplate the social consequences of sending more people to work on January 1st the Minister has sent a very poor early message to Scottish workers who expect, at the very least, that the Scottish Executive will investigate its potential role in protecting their terms and conditions.”
ENDS
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