Retail Worker Hopes Time Off This Easter Won’t Be Her Last

A Wellington retail worker says she hopes this Easter won’t be the last one she has off to spend with her family, amid fresh attempts to remove Easter trading restrictions from two National Party MPs.

National Distribution Union (NDU) vice president Margaret Dornan, a Wellington worker, said that many retail workers already had very little family time, and taking away Easter trading restrictions would make it worse.

“You’ve only got 3 and ½ days a year when shops aren’t open. Retail workers I speak to ask when they are supposed to get some time off with their family, if shops opened over Easter?”

“People want to stay home and be with their family, go to sports events or church at Easter, and I don’t know why money and profit should be put before family time,” she said.

NDU General Secretary Robert Reid said most retail workers could be required to work on any of the days their shop was normally open, so keeping the 3 and ½ non-trading days each year was critical for retail workers to have at least some guaranteed time off with their families.

“Parliament has voted down 8 bills to open shops at Easter since 1996.”

“Constant attempts to bring this issue up is a waste of Parliament’s resources, when time after time these Bills are rejected.”

The most recent attempt, from National’s Rotorua MP Todd McClay, was defeated by 62 votes to 59, in December last year. Both Todd McClay and Otago MP Jacqui Dean have signalled their intention recently to raise the issue again in Parliament, Robert Reid said.

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