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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to think the government has no grounds to control when shops are open and for how long

212 replies

Objection · 20/04/2014 14:48

Like many people, I'm always thrown by shop closures at Easter. I really don't understand WHY the government deems it necessary to restrict or ban shops from opening - surely that should be at the owners descretion?
Unless I'm missing some crucial point, surely Easter is optimum time for shopping and the economy would benefit from it?

OP posts:
MardyPants · 20/04/2014 17:43

People who work in shops are a disgrace. They want to have Easter Sunday off, maybe hang out with their friends and family who also aren't working today, bunch of lazy skiving fuckers. Why even give them days off at all? Why not just give them bunkbeds in a nice communal bedroom above the store, then if you have a potato-purchasing emergency at 3am, or at Easter / on Christmas Day / whenever, you could ring up (perhaps link it to 999 emergency services, due to its obvious crucial importance in life?) the workshy skiving fuckers could get out of their beds and serve you your potatoes, Oh Entitled One. God forbid they should LOOK FORWARD TO a nice day or 2 off over the Bank Holiday, like many other workers do.

Grip anyone?

(Before anyone has a blue fit at me, I work in a shop that doesn't close over Easter and I haven't had Easter weekend off in about 13 years. And let me tell you, Easter is really busy, and working it year in year out is REALLY FUCKING SHIT)

MardyPants · 20/04/2014 17:45

Hell yeah, nappy !

Andrewofgg · 20/04/2014 17:46

Come off it nappyaddict - filling stations, cinemas, theatres, broadcasting, the power stations without which you and I would not be doing this?

Sirzy · 20/04/2014 17:50

I don't know if the list could be quite as short as Nappy suggests, but I think a lot more places could remain closed/work on minimal at least for christmas day and easter sunday.

Andrewofgg · 20/04/2014 17:54

I believe the giftshops and bookshops in the cathedrals do a roaring trade on Easter Sunday . . .

coolcookie · 20/04/2014 17:58

How would you have coped when shop didn't open on a Sunday. Shops are closed 2 days per year. That leaves 363 days to shop. Is that really not enough?
Shop workers desrve time with their families at holiday times too.

aylesburyduck · 20/04/2014 18:01

When I worked in retail the staff were treated appallingly (Debenhams I am looking at you here!!) family life is so much less important than the mighty pound. I asked to switch my day off to attend a family funeral and was told that it was really inconvenient.....I'm sorry debenhams for inconveniencing you, I'm sure my uncle was a bit pissed off at dying!!

Leave was banned from November to January, and at various other times. So to those of you saying just apply for holiday....yeah right, go and work in retail and come back and tell me just how that works!!

The big shops are shut for 1 day. Enjoy the day doing something other than shopping. You can do that tomorrow.

Andrewofgg · 20/04/2014 18:10

coolcookie Why do shopworkers deserve it more than other workers in useful but not life-essential fields such as the pubs, the theatres, broadcasting and so on?

VivaLeBeaver · 20/04/2014 18:20

I'm more annoyed about Sunday trading to be honest. It annoys me that I can't go to the cinema on a Sunday afternoon and then pop to the supermarket after. Obv the cinema part is fine but Tesco is shut by the time the film finishes.

Yes I could be more organised and not need to go but if you live in the sticks you don't want to be back and forth to town all the time.

It would benefit the economy.

Scotland manages just fine with normal trading.

coolcookie · 20/04/2014 18:28

Only mentioned shopworkers as this is what op relates to.

Original poster
Objection · 20/04/2014 18:36

Oh dear. Shame on you OP. How Sad Sad

Catsize - shame on me for what? Have I missed something?

OP posts:
revealall · 20/04/2014 18:41

I can't believe people need the shops/cinema open because they are "bored". Thirty years ago ,yes it was bloody boring with our 3 TV channels and not much else. Now in 24/7 world a day off is fantastic.
It's a national holiday, it 's a good thing. It's a day to do something different.

Original poster
Objection · 20/04/2014 18:47

Oh for fuck sake - those people saying "get a grip" need to get a grip themselves.
My point is that the government shouldn't be able to dictate when shops open, shops should have that choice themselves.
yes, some retail employers are nasty and something should be done about that. But retail workers have such a thing as FREE WILL and don't have to work in that environment.
I appreciate that working is a necessity for some people but people are making out that retail workers are the most hard done by people in the world. they're just not.
As it happens, most shops in my area are closed every sunday, or open on very restricted hours. This pisses me off too because we're a modern country which shouldn't be following archaic religious practices.
I'm not whinging because I can't shop however, im angry that our ridiculous government has put yet another sanction on people and businesses where it has no right to.

We do not need to be controlled in order to have a family life, people have minds and can live their own lives.

And personally I don't give a shit whether people coped with no shops on Wed and Sun "back in the day" - they also coped without mobiles, sat nav etc etc.
I'm astonished at how many people have suggested that we "just shop online if you're so desperate". These are probably the same people who bitch and moan about independent retailers on the high street going out of business because of Internet competition.

IMO the government is far too controlling in things that don't matter (in this case shop opening hours) when they should be fixing stuff that does matter (clearly, as per this thread, workers rights in retail).

OP posts:
Pipbin · 20/04/2014 18:53

But retail workers have such a thing as FREE WILL and don't have to work in that environment. I appreciate that working is a necessity for some people but people are making out that retail workers are the most hard done by people in the world. they're just not.

No, retail workers are not the most hard done by, but for many staff if they say that they aren't willing to work they will be told to stuff off as there are 100s of people who would do their job.
And as for working being a necessity for some people, it's a necessity for most people. You can be damn sure that near everyone working in retail isn't doing it because they like it or to while away the time.

Original poster
Objection · 20/04/2014 18:58

I meant most rather than some, my bad.

But Pipbin - that's what I'm trying to say. Something should be done to ensure that retail workers do get decent holiday when they want/need it rather than a half-assed "but you get Easter - yay!"

OP posts:
Pipbin · 20/04/2014 19:02

I agree Objection but who will? When I worked in retail I raised that I was on less money as a long standing employee who had never had a pay rise than a new joiner because MW had gone up. I was given a serious telling off.
If people want to raise that they are being treated like shit then it's going to take a lot of people to do it. Most people are more afraid that they will lose their jobs.

picnicbasketcase · 20/04/2014 19:08

Completely agree actually - it's not an issue of whether people can cope for two days a year without shopping, of course they can. But the shops should decide when to open, rather than operating under an irrelevant law.

TheGirlFromIpanema · 20/04/2014 19:14

Pipbin, its shit that's true, but no more so than many other low paid jobs.

Careworkers, travel industry staff, leisure industry staff are all comparable to retail staff. They are not at home today taking holiday.

Its just a cop out to suggest that reduced trading is in order to protect retail staff. It isn't. It's all about keeping the church and its leaders happy. Old fashioned and there should be no place for such legislation in modern day UK.

Because we're all carping on about whether or not reduced trading is better for retail staff, we're not even discussing the wider effects on society that some of are biggest industries are paying staff at immorally low rates Sad

Catsize · 20/04/2014 19:18

Since you asked OP, I find your sentence 'Surely Easter is the optimum time for shopping' tragic. As far as I am aware, it is a Christian festival about the death and resurrection of Christ. Like it or not, this remains a Christian country, the Church of England has power to make law etc. and a bit of respect for another's faith cannot hurt in this instance.
The optimum time for shopping for you, maybe (although why more optimum than a weekend in July, I know not), but the Christians serving you in the shops they are forced to work in (given that they may need the job rather than resign on principle, whatever you may say about free will) may disagree.
Also, I find it very very sad that you cannot think of something else to do, as though you have become some sort of consumer automaton.
Be grateful you do not have to work this weekend, and do something fulfilling with it. I hope you can think of something other than shopping.

SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius · 20/04/2014 19:21

"....I appreciate that working is a necessity for some people...." - only some people, Objection??!

"...But retail workers have such a thing as FREE WILL and don't have to work in that environment...." - yes - because most people don't have bills to,pay, or mortgages, or rent. And there are soooo many job vacancies that anyone who doesn't want to work in retail can take their pick of other jobs. Hmm

All this because you cannot be deprived of a single day of shopping.

What dreadful thing is going to happen if you can't shop for one, single day??

Catsize · 20/04/2014 19:22

And anyway, you can shop in a shop smaller than 280m2 as far as I can ascertain. So, if the shop is smaller than that, the government isn't forcing them to do anything, but perhaps their managers do not exhibit the greed of others and show more respect too.

Andrewofgg · 20/04/2014 19:23

Isn't this the point: If you work in a business which caters to the customers' leisure then you will have to work when others are not working. And for many of us shopping is a form of leisure, a way of enjoying ourselves, and not just a process of exchanging money for necessities.Which means that retail workers go on to the work-at-holiday time list.

I would abolish all Sunday hour restrictions with protection for current employees. Within a year of doing it we will be wondering what took us so long - just as we did in 1994 when we abolished most of them.

SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius · 20/04/2014 19:23

Cross posted on the 'some people need to work' thing - I had to stop in the middle of writing this post, to talk to MiL, and didn't see your post, Objection.

NearTheWindymill · 20/04/2014 19:27

For all those who hate the concept of living in a Christian country which gives all inhabitants the freedom to follow the beliefs they chose might I suggest they spend some time in a totalitarian state where there are no or few freedoms.

This thread is one of the saddest I have ever read on Mumsnet in the context of tolerance. In a society where we should be thankful that we are free to be gay, free to air opinions, free to support our disabled, where there is food and where there is a safety net for those who cannot fend for themselves, where is democracy and children are safe from condemnation, some of the disrespect about feedom of belief is shockingly palpable.

Retreats.

Slackgardener · 20/04/2014 19:27

Shop closures on a Sunday annoy me, never mind shop closures on Easter Sunday. I'm not shopping obsessed but not being religious we don't distinguish between days off and dislike having the gov/church attempt to control how we spend our free time.