Belfast Sunday shopping: Unions and industry body slam council bid to give chain stores early opening, calling on politicians to scrap six-week trial
A bid to have chain stores in the heart of Belfast open on Sunday mornings has been slammed by unions and a major retail industry body.
Belfast City Council is to allow Sunday morning trading for large shops for a six-week trial period – though it could become a permanent feature of the summer months.
The move was pushed through a committee by Alliance and Sinn Fein this week, despite opposition from the DUP, SDLP and Greens, and is due to be rubber-stamped by the full council on Thursday night (1st).
But two unions and industry body Retail NI have jointly called on the council to scrap the Sunday trading trial when it comes up tomorrow night, arguing it’ll have a terrible impact on shop staff and hurt independent businesses.
Hitting out at the move, unions argue extended opening hours for chain stores are “a distraction” from the real issues facing city centre retail, while the industry body stated the city centre needs something new and more ambitious to draw in locals and tourists on a Sunday morning.
Now the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers (USDAW), and the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) have come together with Retail NI in asking politicians to vote the trial down, arguing that the commercial heart of Belfast needs a proper strategy with business owners, workers, trade unions, and both local and national government all having their say.
The three bodies argue that hasn’t happened with the Sunday trading move, adding no one from the council asked any of them what they thought before the trial was put to this week’s committee for a vote.
Retail NI chief executive Glyn Roberts suggested that deregulating trading would turn Sunday into “another normal shopping day” and “shows a poverty of ambition”.
"We need new thinking to animate Sunday morning and offer shoppers and visitors something different,” he said. “This proposal will provide large multinationals with even more trading time, directly at the expense of small independent retailers who use trading time on Sunday morning to sustain their business.”
USDAW general secretary Paddy Lillis pointed out that Sunday morning trading has repeatedly come up over the past 10 years, and has always been voted down, adding that “repeatedly considering extending Sunday trading hours is a distraction from tackling the real issues that impact the retail sector”.
He said: “Our members remain totally opposed to extending Sunday trading hours. Allowing large stores to open longer on Sundays would have a negative impact on retail workers, their families and our communities.
"Longer Sunday trading would take a heavy toll on staff who would come under even more pressure to work, when they would rather be spending time with family and engaging in community, sports and leisure activities or attending church.
"Even supporters of extended Sunday opening hours have not been able to show it will lead to economic benefits or job creation – put simply, opening shops for longer does not mean people have more money to spend. We urge city councillors to listen to the majority of shop workers and retailers who do not want extended Sunday trading.”
The trial is the brainchild of Alliance councillor Sam Nelson, who believes it would boost retail and “give shoppers, tourists, families and businesses more freedom of choice”.