Cyprus-Forum.com

[Sotos]

TRADE AND employers unions yesterday locked horns over a decision to allow shopkeepers to keep their businesses open until late during the Christmas season sooner than the law stipulates.

Trade unions SEK and PEO clashed with POVEK, OEV, KEVE and the Hypermarkets’ Association during a two-hour meeting at the Labour Ministry to resolve a dispute over bringing forward the start date of late-night Christmas shopping.

The law states that shopkeepers are allowed to keep their shops open till 8pm every day from December 12-30. However, POVEK, OEV, KEVE and the Hypermarkets’ Association proposed bringing this forward to December 3.

According to SEK general-secretary of private employees, Alecos Tasouris, who attended the meeting, no agreement was reached between the six organisations.

“A proposal was put forward that if the shops went ahead and opened on December 3, then employees should be given a day off in the 10 days running up to December 12. Everyone was in agreement except for KEVE and OEV,” he said.

SEK’s acting general-secretary of private employees, Elysseos Michael pointed out the problem had come about when the four employers’ organisations had gone ahead and decided to allow shops to stay open without taking the trade unions into consideration.

On November 18, employers’ unions KEVE, OEV, POVEK and the Hypermarkets’ Association, reached an agreement to allow shops to start the Christmas late-shopping season on December 3.

According to small shopkeepers union POVEK the decision was made in an effort to thwart large hypermarkets, which already violated legal closing times, from benefiting alone.

“In the run up-to Christmas consumers start shopping more. If we hadn’t agreed to opening up sooner a large portion of the market would be swallowed up by hypermarkets, which have been known to stay open later. This wouldn’t have been fair, as it would only have benefited a few businesses. This way, however, everyone benefits as the business is spread out,” said POVEK General-secretary Stefanos Koursaris.

He said: “The four organisations have also agreed that after the Christmas period no one will violate the law and all businesses will adhere to the legal closing times.” In the winter times this meant 2pm on Wednesday, 3pm on Saturday, 7pm daily and closed on Sundays, he added.

But Michael said the employees were not in favour of working late starting December 3. “They have two weekends in which to rest in December, to get their jobs done and to do their own shopping. They do not want to spend those weekends working,” he said.

Tasouris said the meeting had ended without reaching a favourable settlement.

“The Labour Ministry representative said he’d talk to the Minister about what had been discussed but no decision was reached. I think some shops will go ahead and open on December 3 and others will open on December 12.

“In other words everyone will do what they want. We’ve told the Ministry to uphold the law and penalise shops that violate the December 12 law, but it looks like it will be unable to do anything.”