Gordon Copeland

Ground swell petition opposes Easter shop trading

United Future MP Gordon Copeland, an opponent of shop trading on Good Friday or Easter Sunday, today revealed that there is ground swell of support for a petition opposing the two bills currently before Parliament.

"The petition was commenced by George Dunning of Nelson who forwarded the 835 signatures he had collected to me, as the sponsoring Member of Parliament, in late March.

"It was originally proposed that the petition would be presented to Parliament on the 1st of May to coincide both with the International Workers Day and also, in the Catholic Church, the feast day of Saint Joseph the Worker.

"However, the two Easter Trading bills (one in the name of Jacqui Dean, the other in the name of Steve Chadwick) have been delayed because Sue Bradford's Anti-Smacking Bill has utilised all of the available time on the last two Members days and that looks set to continue during May.

"Accordingly a vote on the 2nd reading of the Easter Sunday Trading Bills could now be as late as the 13th of June with the Committee stage to follow (assuming the bills survive their 2nd readings).

"Given those realities, a loose "alliance" involving unions and churches has been brought together to advance the petition.

"Laila Harre and Maxine Gay of the National Distribution Union will be taking the lead on the union side and I have passed the word on to Catholic and Anglican bishops and to the Chief Executive of Vision Network New Zealand, on the churches' side.

"What began as one man's stand is therefore now moving in the direction of a more general ground swell of opposition to the bills.

"It is a pity in a way that the timing has coincided with Sue Bradford's Bill which has tended, for the moment, to overshadow the very deep concerns of many New Zealanders at the prospect of New Zealand's shop-free days, shrinking from an already skinny 3.5 per year to just 1.5."

Mr Copeland said that this not just about the right of shop owners to open their shops on these important traditional holidays.

"It is also about work/life balance, time with family and friends, and the opportunity for the more than 300,000 people who work in the retail sector to get off their feet and enjoy the holidays, along with the rest of us."

ENDS

A union is urging MPs to vote against legislation that would allow shops to open on Good Friday and Easter Sunday. Two member's bills that would liberalise Easter trading are on Parliament's order paper and could come up for debate as early as Wednesday.

Parliament's commerce committee has considered the bills, which passed their first reading last year, and recommended merging them into a single piece of legislation – the Shop Trading Hours Act Repeal (Good Friday and Easter Sunday) Amendment Bill.

But National Distribution Union secretary Laila Harre today urged MPs to vote against the legislation, which would mean only Christmas and the morning of Anzac Day remained protected.

The bill would impact on 200,000 shop workers as well as their families and communities. Ms Harre said most workers valued their only remaining protected Sunday. The union did not object to special exemptions for towns where big events were being held over Easter. "But in allowing all shops to open everywhere on one or both days these bills go too far."

United Future deputy leader Gordon Copeland has already said he will vote against the bill. He said Good Friday and Easter Sunday should be preserved as holidays so families could enjoy them together.

New Zealand shops were already open 361.5 days a year and 51 Sundays and New Zealanders already worked some of the longest weekly hours of any OECD country. MPs will get a conscience vote on the bill. Under the bill territorial authorities that do not want shops to open on Good Friday and Easter Sunday can be exempted.