Unions wary of Easter trading law changes

Whare Kea luxury lodge on the shores of Lake Wanaka (AAP)
Whare Kea luxury lodge on the shores of Lake Wanaka (AAP)

Wanaka retailers appear to have finally won their decades-long battle for the right to open on Easter Sunday.

But there are concerns the proposed protections for workers who want to take an Easter holiday won't have any teeth.

Workplace Relations and Safety Minister Michael Woodhouse has announced an overhaul of the law, which currently prevents businesses from operating on Easter Sunday unless they've been granted historical exemptions.

"The law allows certain shops selling specific items to remain open, while others must close their doors," Mr Woodhouse said yesterday.

"It also includes several historical exemptions which allow shops in areas such as Taupo to open on Easter Sunday, while those in Rotorua cannot."

Alistair King from the Wanaka Chamber of Commerce is delighted. His town hasn't enjoyed the same exemptions that have applied to rivals for the tourist dollar, such as Queenstown.

"It's great to see that finally there's going to be some action around making a change that's going to make it easier and more of an even playing field for the Wanaka tourist economy over that period," says Mr King.

He says it's also a win for employees.

"A lot of people need to be able to work over that period when it is very busy and get in extra hours to be able to make a living. It works from both sides."

Unions aren't so sure however. The changes will allow employees to refuse to work on Easter Sunday without having to give a reason, but "power relations" in the workplace will make it impossible for workers to tell their boss they won't be coming in, says First Union retail and finance secretary Maxine Gay.

"Has the minister forgotten that… workers on a 90-day trial who refuse to work can be dismissed for no reason?" she asks.

Ms Gay also says the rules will quickly become even more arbitrary and chaotic than they are at present.

"Some local authorities will decide to open, others won't. You'll have some chains of shops that can open in some parts of the country, and not in others. It's just lazy."

Conservative lobby groups are also opposed to the changes, saying stores are already open almost every day of the year.

"Public holidays are traditions. They create rituals for families, not based on shopping but on celebrating together, reconnecting, and making memories," says Family First director Bob McCoskrie.

"Poll after poll has shown that both parents and children want to spend more time doing family things like picnics and holidays together. However, this is becoming increasingly difficult."

BusinessNZ chief executive Phil O'Reilly says the changes are "pragmatic", but has concerns about how they'll work in places with diversified economies including tourism, such as Auckland.

"In Wanaka, there's not going to be a problem – they're going to open," he said on the Paul Henry programme this morning.

"Where there's going to be some trickiness I suspect is in places like Auckland, where some parts are tourism parts – you might open shops because elderly people want to go shopping.

"It's going to be really hard to say Auckland's open or Auckland's not."

Another worry Mr O'Reilly has is councils might decide only certain types of businesses can open, or small business owners might have to forgo holidays to keep up with their competition.

"I hope councils will listen really carefully to businesses. Bear in mind, businesses won't all open themselves. Small businesses might say, 'Look – it's too hard. I'm going on holiday, as a matter of fact.'"

He doesn't share unions' fears that employees will be forced to work, despite the law; nor does he expect the Government to extend the changes to Good Friday and Christmas Day any time soon.

"I'm not seeing the same kind of pressure on Good Friday and Christmas Day – there is still a community consensus I think that those days are days that are free of those kinds of activities."

The changes aren't expected to be in place until Easter 2017.

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