Discussions End on Sunday Opening for Shops?
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Discussions on Sunday opening for shops have generated tension within the Government itself and strong opposition from trade unions. Following the intervention of the Prime Minister, the maximum number of Sundays on which shops are legally allowed to open remains unchanged at 5.
In July 2003, the Junior Minister of Local Freedoms, Patrick Devedjan, tabled a bill that would affect the traditional notion of Sunday as a rest day for employees. The proposed legislation aimed to increase the number of closing days on which, exceptionally, shops would legally be allowed to open from 5 to 8. This proposal, which led to an outcry, was followed by another bill tabled by majority member, Patrick Balkany, designed to scrap Sunday as a statutory day of rest in the retail sector. The lively discussions had resulted in these proposals being shelved until spring 2004, when Nicolas Sarkozy, on his appointment as Finance Minister, spoke of raising the annual number of authorised Sunday openings to ten.
Since then, the issue of the changes to the statutory working week has prompted action from trade unions, who have made it clear that they are opposed to Government moves to alter the 35-hour legislation (FR0502109F). Meanwhile, the Government has given its approval for call centres to operate on Sundays (FR0502104N). In February 2005, faced with increasingly vocal reaction from all quarters to the issue of company relocation and the promotion of a voluntarist industrial policy (FR0502106F), Patrick Devedjan, now Junior Minister of Industry, reiterated his proposal to increase the number of authorised Sunday openings with a view to providing the necessary support for the French textile industry, consumption and jobs.
The Minister of Trade and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, Christian Jacob, was quick to demonstrate his uncompromising opposition to the proposal put forward by his counterpart at the Ministry of Industry. On 13 February 2005, the Minister of Economy, Finance and Industry, M. Hervé Gaymard, attempted to calm the dispute being waged by his two subordinates in the newspapers by stating that the opposition between them on the issue was apparent rather than real. Whereupon the Junior Minister of Industry immediately let it be known that he would abide by the Prime Minister’s decision on the matter.
As far as employers are concerned, The Federation of Ready-to-Wear Garment Manufacturers (Fédération du prêt-à-porter), added their support to the Minister of Industry’s lead. The organisation has pointed out that when a focus group of its members was asked about the issue recently, 'the vast majority favoured Sunday opening for their outlets' especially since 'Sundays account for over 30% of their annual turn-over'. However, the chairman of the National Federation of Clothiers (Fédération nationale de l’habillement), Charles Melcer, took issue with the appropriateness of protecting the French textile industry in this way given that retailers had recently recorded a rise in volume of between 3% and 5% during their traditional winter sales period. In his opinion, Sunday opening is irrelevant to the real problems and issues besetting the sector. He went on to say that 'to contend that Sunday opening would in any way offset the scrapping of Chinese quotas is laughable'.
The unions for their part wasted no time in rejecting the proposals put forward by the Minister of Industry. The French Democratic Confederation of Labour (Confédération française démocratique du travail, CFDT) -affiliated union in the sector denounced the Minister’s initiatives on the grounds that 'allowing ready-to-wear outlets to open on Sundays would be only the first step'. The French Christian Workers’ Confederation (Confédération française des travailleurs chrétiens, CFTC) -affiliated union in the industry also stated that 'it was totally opposed to the plan' especially given that 'it will lead to job losses in the small retailer sector'. The General Confederation of Labour -affiliated Retail Sector Union (Confédération générale du travail du Commerce, CGT) called the Minister’s proposal 'scandalous and provocative'. It sees it as nothing more than a move to require 'employees to work as and when employers decide'. The General Confederation of Labour - Force ouvrière (Confédération générale du travail - Force ouvrière, CGT-FO) -affililated Federation of Clerical Employees and Management Staff (Fédération des employés et cadres), came out against the move to increase the number of Sunday openings and to extend tourist areas, contending that this is 'unfettered free-marketeering, designed to satisfy mass retailers and shops'.
Faced with this general uproar, the Prime Minister, Jean-Pierre Raffarin, brought the public arguments to an end on 18 February 2005. This issue had for several days poisoned relations between various Government ministers. The Prime Minister stated that there would be no changes to the regulations governing Sunday opening for shops. He indicated, however, that he was keeping an open mind on this issue and that the review of the law on pricing in the mass retailing sector (on 3 July 1996), known as the Galland law would result in a detailed examination of the retail sector as a whole. Starting in March 2005, the Government plans to kick off a comprehensive three-year media campaign costing eight billion Euro a year to promote local retailers.
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