The French DIY retailer, Bricorama, sparked things off in late September by denouncing its competitors Castorama and Leroy Merlin. They are accused of opening their shops illegally on Sundays. Indeed, Sunday shopping in France is supervised by strict laws. Only Health Services or restaurants as well as commercial zones near the major cities are allowed to open their doors to Sunday consumers. The other are allowed to open the last three Sundays before Christmas. Nevertheless, many of them are determined to break the law.
WORKERS AND CONSUMERS
ARE PROTESTING FOR THE RIGHT TO WORK AND TO CONSUME
And they are right. If
every mall or retail would be open on Sundays, people would be more disposed to
consume in a country in recession with a high unemployment rate such as France.
The students for
instance are busy all week long with their lectures, homework and all these
stuff. Sunday is the last day remaining to earn more money in order to continue
to pay the rent and above all to eat. Besides, everyday workers also want to
work on Sundays. As a matter of fact, the salary is more interesting (often the
double that of an ordinary day).
What about people who
are working from Monday to Saturday - when will it be possible for them to do
shopping? Why not allow people to work and to consume if they ask to do so? The
French prime minister announced it will be discussed soon within the
Parliament.
CONSERVATIVES ARE PROTESTING
FOR THE RIGHT TO REST AND TO SPEND TIME WITH FAMILY
However, it rekindles
discussions. France is a secular country where the State and the Church have
been separated since 1905 but some associations defending consumers remind that
Sunday is seen as a day of rest, leisure and family times, above all for
Catholic people. What about Jews or Muslims who are living in France? Maybe
they want to work on Sundays but not on Sabbath (Saturdays) and Muslims would
prefer to have rest on Fridays to pray together.
Nonetheless it is
important to underline that Sunday rest has been an institution since the socialist
law of the 35-hour workweek in 1998.
POLITICIANS’ OPINION
French municipal’s elections
approaching, Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet, the right-wing representative and
candidate to Paris town hall, said that something will be done to enlarge the
commercial zones which are allowed to open on Sundays. By contrast, according
to the French current Capital’s Mayor Bertrand Delanöe, in the same way as the
left-wing candidate, Anne Hidalgo, nothing will be done to improve the law.
Benoit Hamon, Minister
for social economy added that “legalizing
work on Sundays would lead to a loss of the advantages” such as the best
salary.
Castorama, Leroy
Merlin and Co. would be ask to pay an amount of 120,000€ for each shop open on
Sundays. Despite government threats, it does not seem to stop them.
The French association
“les Bricoleurs du dimanche” said to the press that forbidding people to work
and so to participate in the economic growth of their country is unfair.
Karen D.
Sources: Reuters, France 24, Les Echos, BBC News
I agree with the fact that we need to base society on values, to define an identity. Some of our values are inherited from religion, Sunday is thus a family life pillar.
ReplyDeleteBut, our society is changing, and to me, the most obvious factor of that change is internet. We are already able to go shopping on Sunday thanks to the web. We should adapt our habits.
Moreover, in some touristic areas, like Paris for instance, Sunday shopping would allow tourists to shop more, even if they only stay two days in France. It could encourage consumption.
I also agree that Sunday can be a day of rest for many people but in my opinion shops must be open on Sunday. As you already said, it could encourage consumption but it could also boost France's economy. In fact, your article reminds me the recent case about Sephora and the fact that they are open after 9 pm in Paris. In a lot of countries, shops are open until 10 or 11 pm, there are also countries like Japan where many shops are open all the night and it is a good thing because people can consume when they want and where they want. Why can't we do the same thing? In my opinion, it could be a really good thing but do you really think it will happen one day? I hope.
ReplyDeleteIvan L
I agree with you both. Sunday is a day of rest and devoted to leisure. But leisure could also mean "shopping" ! I agree with you Ivan and the fact that force shops to close at night, above all in a city such as Paris, is unfair for employees as well as consumers. I hope it would happen one day too. It would encourage consumption and give the opportunity to work to thousand of unemployed persons.
ReplyDeleteIndeed, we can also shop on the Internet everyday and no matter what time is it which is a revolution. But some people, such as my parents for instance, still have the need to touch and to feel an article before buying...
http://www.nouveautes-actu.com/8758-capital-6-octobre-2013-m6-debat-travail-dimanche-bricorama.html
ReplyDeleteI don't know if you saw this episode of Capital on m6. It's shows the boss of Bricorama fighting for his right to open on Sunday's, he compares his situation to those of Leroy merlin and Castorama it's quite interesting. It turns out it's a member of the CGT union who reported Bricorama opening illegally and it's ridiculous because the member of staff are all for working, they chose whether they want to or not and it was good all around for the shop to open its doors on Sundays...
I personally am all for shops being open on Sunday, it works perfectly fine in other european countries like the UK for example. Furthermore it would give us all something to do on a Sunday!
Daisy
Yes Daisy, I saw it.
ReplyDeleteHave you heard it in the news ? The governement finally allows Castorama and Leroy Merlin to open on Sundays ! I think it is a significant step forward...
I am in favour of it, it will be something good for consumers and people who want to earn more money. We are facing a crisis, we have to fight against it. Working on Sundays will be a huge change. Moreover we could go on shopping on Sundays with our friends or with our family. From Monday to Saturday everybody has such a full life ! It could be a solution for hard-working persons who are for instance students or employees who have some responsabilities... Some employees are ready to work on Sundays, why is it a problem? They just want to earn more money, to have a better life, it is a personnal choice. Maybe they have to pay back something like a loan...Overheads are used to increasing however our payslips are always the sames... If employees want to work on Sundays, they have to do it ! Of course it has to be legal.
ReplyDeleteMaëlys Tello Aguerri
I Karen
ReplyDeleteNice article, this is the perfect example of an opposition between economic reality of today and a very dangerous conglomerate of union and past traditions, if we gain a bit of altitude.
Indeed, more than giving its personal opinion as a "yes or no", the interesting thing in that case is to understand the reality of the situation in a European context, behind the simple facts.
Because at our intellectual level in Master’s degree, we can’t just answer like just anybody in the street, we have to understand the forces manipulating the puppets.
Yes we have some areas which are allowed to open on Sunday but they are chosen by the State, around big cities and high touristic area.
So we have some French (as me) who use to go shopping on Sunday and some other who can't.
Now, if we take the economic context of "few growth" at very very long term (yes, I'm a bit pessimistic on the European future), the fact of creating a supplementary day worked appears as totally logical.
Above all, as Daisy mentioned it, in UK, the system is working well.
So why not everywhere in our country?
Because of two old things still alive, poisoning the progress of our country since ever and maybe forever.
We talk of Unionist mafia and Catholic rests, which are involved in the destruction of every today projects like Gay marriage, working time reform or Sunday shopping among others, using pitiful arguments when they use it.
Why that? Because of the classical fear to lose more and more power on the national scene.
So, we stay here, in the middle of the way, lost and divided, because of them.
Because nobody will make something against this unjustified conglomerate, especially the cowards at the head of the State.
The equation is simple: We want to work on Sunday and behind this specific case, we still want to lead the Humanity by upgrading an efficient Europe?
It starts by pulling the pollution out of the national debate and keep only the justified arguments.
An efficient democracy, especially today, should only deal with real arguments, real projects and stop waste time with some medieval or mid-20th century philosophies.
Our future and the one of our child are more important than their madness.
J.F
I agree with you both ! The government is still creating new taxes all weeks long without increasing our salaries ! The middle class wants the right to work one more day because they NEED to work. For some of them it is not a question of choice anymore. On the contrary, it is a real need to continue to help them to pay their loans and rents.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Julien who says that the government is not facing the real problem of the French population which is just seeking for more extra earnings to promise a better life to their children and enable them to go to university or simply to eat to their fill ! Unions are supposed to fight for the rights of workers so why are they doing the contrary ?
Karen
Wow I didn't know that! Soon all shops will be open.. but that might mean that employees won't get paid double anymore..
ReplyDeleteOf course, it will led to an unavoidable loss of the advantages. Anyway it will be an additional day of work so a little bonus on the pay-slip at this end of the month.
ReplyDeleteKaren