All shops in Slovakia should be closed on Sundays and state holidays, said a trade union representative, who added that her union has already approached the new government with this request, the TASR newswire reported. Current law requires stores to be closed on Easter Sunday, Christmas Day and New Year's Eve as well as to close by noon on Christmas Eve. The trade union pushed for the same proposal while Iveta Radičová's government was in power but was not successful.
Katarína Kulandová, the head of the trade union of workers in sales and tourism, told the TASR newswire that her union will table the idea again to see if Robert Fico's government will be more accommodating to the idea. Kulandová said even if a ban did not ultimately apply to all Sundays, the trade union would be happy with a country-wide closure of shops during all state holidays, as is the case in Austria and some other EU-member countries.
The effort is primarily linked to the fact that women account for over 80 percent of shop assistants and "we want families to be together at least one day of the week," said Kulandová.
Pavol Konštiak, the head of the employers’ Association of Trade and Tourism (ZOCR), said that his association's members have varying opinions on the issue.
Source: TASR
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
