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Should stores be allowed to open on Sundays after closing? WKO President Mahrer’s move sparked a dispute in Austria.
On Thursday, Chamber of Commerce President Harald Mahrer had people sit down and take note: stores should be able to open longer after closing and also on Sunday. Crown losses should be better absorbed before Christmas. Around 6,000 companies are already bankrupt.
The union, the Chamber of Labor and also the churches were outraged by the advance. “Sunday is an important cultural economic asset in Austria”, says Daniela Ebeert of the “Alliance for Free Sunday”. If everyone had another day off, volunteer work, for example, would no longer be possible. “There are many things that break there.”
On Thursday evening, ÖGB President Wolfgang Katzian (SPÖ) commented on the matter in ORF presenter Lou Lorenz-Dittlbacher’s “ZiB2” studio:
Sunday opening is not free
“Today we have received a clear rejection of the big companies and the presidents of the Federal Economic Chambers”, says the president of ÖGB. Like many others, he was surprised by Mahrer’s proposal. However, it is still nothing concrete, just “one of many ideas” in the room.
In any case, the private workers union had not received any request for implementation in this regard. “If there is a real will, then we will contact each other,” Katzian said. However, this will not be granted to companies in vain, the ÖGB also has wishes, including mask breaks for employees and the thousands of Corona, which will then be put in the balance during negotiations.
“A little bird chirped with me”
He also questions the meaning of the Sunday opening: “It must be said that the Christmas business depends on people having money.” Given the large number of unemployed and short-time workers, the belt could be tightened in many households this year. Katzian believes that she can boost the Christmas business much better with her own suggestions for a Corona Thousand campaign or gift voucher.
For the Social Democrats it is also doubtful that there will be two Sundays left if one surrenders here: “There are already voices that say Sundays open also in January. That has not yet been said publicly, but a little bird tweeted it to me.” , he said.
Moderator Lorenz-Dittlbacher then directed the interview to corona tests in companies. For Katzian, every strategy and every test should work first on the basis of voluntariness. “From our point of view, this is clearly a measure that affects human dignity. A company agreement is needed.”
“We can’t bear that either”
And how should companies deal with those who reject evidence? “It’s basically about the safety of colleagues,” says Katzian. However, you can’t just suspend employees. “Volunteering is a valuable asset and must be handled with care.”
In the interview “ZiB2” he advocates the development of a comprehensive multi-test strategy for teachers and individuals in the social and caring professions. Just trying once, even if it is nationally, is not enough. It transmits a completely wrong picture and says: “Long live, the Christkindl is happy, Christmas is saved and on New Year’s Eve it can really break again, and in January we have the next blockade. Nobody wants that and I think we can not bear Neither that “.
