Social partners agree to allow year-round Sunday trading

The Service Union United and the Federation of Finnish Commerce have reached a joint proposal that would allow all shops to remain open every Sunday. The agreement was reached with difficulty, with the trade union demanding the need for employee consent, safety assessments and bonus payments. Meanwhile, employers gave a mixed reaction, with small traders in particularx criticising the measure. The government parties also have differing views on the matter.

The Service Union United (Palvelualojen ammattiliitto, PAM), affiliated to the Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions (Suomen Ammattiliittojen Keskusjärjestö, SAK), and the Federation of Finnish Commerce (Suomen Kaupan Liitto), affiliated to the Confederation of Finnish Industries (Elinkeinoelämän keskusliitto, EK), have reached a joint proposal that would allow all shops to remain open on Sundays throughout the year.

Currently, larger stores are allowed to remain open on Sundays in the summer months and in the weeks during the Christmas shopping season. However, the representative assembly of PAM has narrowly agreed to a proposal that would allow all shops to remain open every Sunday. The proposal to relax rules on store opening hours was sharply criticised by many of the trade union’s representatives at the union meeting. The union held its meeting after PAM leaders and representatives of the Federation of Finnish Commerce had reached an understanding on how employees should be compensated for the extended opening hours.

Difficult decision for trade union

The Chair of PAM, Ann Selin, stated that the decision to agree to more flexible opening hours was a difficult one; however, she had in any case been expecting the government to bring forward to parliament a proposal supporting less restricted opening hours. Ms Selin acknowledged that the most problematic item for the employers to accept was a clause under which employees had to consent to working on Sundays. Thus, for well-founded family reasons, an employee would continue to have the right to take Sunday off, if the employee informs the employer that they need a Sunday off before the shift schedule is prepared.

PAM’s Deputy Chair, Anssi Vuorio, considered that one significant part of the agreement was the provision that, as evening work becomes more common, the assessment of safety hazards at the workplace should become mandatory once a year. The second Deputy Chair of PAM, Kaarlo Julkunen, explained that the trade union entered into negotiations with the employer side because strong messages were coming from the government in the summer of 2008 that opening hours would be deregulated regardless of the social partners’ position on the matter.

According to Mr Julkunen, the trade union wanted to win ‘protective elements’ for its employees. He highlighted that PAM persuaded the employer side to agree to extra payments which would normally be negotiated only in connection with the drafting of an employment contract.

Employers divided in opinion

The employer side has been divided in its opinion on the issue of Sunday trading. Deregulation had been called for by large retail chains, but it was opposed by small businesses and the Association of Specialised Stores (Erikoiskaupan Liitto, EKL), which is also affiliated to the Federation of Finnish Commerce. The Managing Director of EKL, Tiina Oksala, argued that the expansion of Sunday trading would be expensive for specialist shops: ‘Paying the price for the expanded opening hours will be the labour-intensive specialist shops, whose labour costs in relation to turnover are significantly higher than for retailers of perishable goods.’

Managing Director of the Finnish Food Marketing Association (Päivittäistavarakauppa, PTY), Osmo Laine, conceded that he would be satisfied if all shops were permitted to be open from May to the end of December. Mr Laine considered that the profitability of Sunday opening hours would depend on the shop and locality in each case.

Meanwhile, the Federation of Finnish Enterprises (Suomen Yrittäjät, SY), representing a total of 15,000 smaller shops, would like to maintain the current opening hours. According to the Director of SY, Rauno Vanhanen, many entrepreneurs believe that the Sunday opening hours should be restricted to cover only the month of December.

Government not united on issue

The government parties also have different views on the length of Sunday trading. The National Coalition Party (Kokoomus) supports opening hours between 12.00 and 18.00; however, the Centre Party of Finland (Suomen Keskusta) and the Green League (Vihreä Liitto) would prefer opening hours between 12.00 and 16.00.

The Minister of Finance, Jyrki Katainen of the National Coalition Party, declared that he is in favour of unrestricted opening hours for shops. A final decision on changing the current rules on store opening hours lies with the government and parliament, which could decide on the matter even without the agreement of the labour market organisations. Nevertheless, the Minister of Labour, Tarja Cronberg, wanted to hear their views. During parliamentary question time, Minister Cronberg did not promise any rapid change in opening hours, stating: ‘So far this is just a proposal, and I want to emphasise that this is not a government proposal. The aim is to reach an understanding specifically within the government.’

Pertti Jokivuori, Statistics Finland