Paid shopping for workers advocated

Press, 17 March 1977, Page 7

Paid shopping for workers advocated

Paid shopping leave for workers is a better solution to the problem of shopping for twin-income families and solo parents than the extension of shop trading hours, says the Federation of Labour in its submissions to the Select Committee hearing on the Shop Trading Hours Bill.

Tne F.O.L. opposes the Bill because of what it sees as an undesirable effect that its provisions will have on shop employees “and the flown-on effect that this could have on other workers.”

It says that the Bill would also have an inflationary effect and would promote the wasteful use of resources, which could affect the community as a whole. It also says that the Bill will lead to a trend towards late-hour and weekend shopping, that this trend will be impossible to reverse and that it will occur on an ad hoc basis. “Our major concern is the effect it could have on the general level of health of the employees directly involved in servicing the extended hours,” says the F.O.L. “We see this as being two fold — first, the effect that loss of hours for beneficial recreational activities will have and, second, the effect that extended hours at night could have particularly on the many women shop employees who in many cases have the additional burden of household duties. “We do not see how an

extension of shopping hours can in any way lead to increased price competition with benefits to consumers. What we see as being the result is that either there will be a proliferation of small-scale “stalls” open during the week-end and at extended hours during the week as the larger retail outlets are unable to compete or, more likely, the larger retail outlets will be forced to follow suit and open the extended hours of their smaller rivals.

“In the likely event of this latter happening, the end result will be that operating costs will increase and there will be a further upward pressure on prices. We understand that the large retailers anticipate an increase in gross margins by 3 per cent to 5 per cent, all other things being equal. To cover this, it is theoretically possible that extended trading hours would lead to a higher level of domestic consumption but, under present economic circumstances, this is unlikely even if it was thought to be desirable."

The F.O.L. says that an extension in shop hours could lead to a wasteful diversification of resources and that the present system is more consistent with good planning objectives. It says that if the Bill is enacted, Saturday shopping will be extended on a random ad hoc basis, with the vague concept of public demand determining whether shops will remain open. The possibility of city

centres decaying through extended shopping hours is raised. The F.OX. says that this could happen because retail outlets in central business districts would be compelled to move into suburban shopping centres, from where the first moves for extended shopping hours are likely to come. The F.O.L. says, “To overcome the shopping problems which do arise when both husband and wife are working and also for solo working parents, it is Federation of Labour policy to encourage unions to claim paid shopping leave in their awards and collective agreements and the suggested standard provision is: ‘“That full-time weekly workers shall be allowed no less than one hour per week during normal working hours for shopping time. For the purpose of this clause, the time allowed shall be determined by agreement with the employers and the workers shall accumulate up to four hours in any one month. No deductions shall be made from the workers’ wages in respect of the shopping time allowed.’

“The Federation of Labour sees this as a reasonable solution for the group most affected by existing hours and sees no reason why the Government could not give legislative effect to such a proposal so that it would apply to all workers in both the public and private sector who do not already have paid time off provided."