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25 Jul 12 - 05:27 PM (#3381474) Subject: BS: Supermarkets benefit from the Olympics! From: melodeonboy This evening I noticed a sign outside a local supermarket indicating that they'll be open until 6 p.m. on Sundays for the duration of the olympics. Is this a one off, or is it a nationwide move? On what grounds are supermarkets being given yet more leeway? Are supermarkets acting independently as they did before (when they forced Sunday opening on the country by sheer financial might and political influence), knowing that the government will be reluctant to upset their mates in the food industry, or did the government propose this in the first place? Is this the thin of the wedge and a launch pad for longer Sunday opening hours? The most puzzling part is trying to work out why they need to open longer in Sittingbourne (or anywhere else outside London, for that matter!) during the olympics! Can anyone enlighten me? |
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25 Jul 12 - 05:30 PM (#3381475) Subject: RE: BS: Supermarkets benefit from the Olympics! From: melodeonboy And there was little old me thinking that MacDonald's, Coca Cola and Heineken were the only ones that were supposed to benefit from the olympics! |
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25 Jul 12 - 05:57 PM (#3381485) Subject: RE: BS: Supermarkets benefit from the Olympics! From: Doug Chadwick As far as I am concerned, if it does away with the restrictions on Sunday trading then at least there will have been one lasting beneift of the Olympics. DC |
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25 Jul 12 - 08:23 PM (#3381533) Subject: RE: BS: Supermarkets benefit from the Olympics! From: Don(Wyziwyg)T Amen to that Doug. They can't force any individual to work Sundays so why not allow those who want to the privilege of making up their own minds. Don T. |
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25 Jul 12 - 10:36 PM (#3381564) Subject: RE: BS: Supermarkets benefit from the Olympics! From: Ebbie Interesting. On the one hand, it is well documented that more people in the USA are church goers than in the UK- but it seems that there are less Sunday closures in the US also? We used to call them 'blue laws'; I'm not sure we have many left. |
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26 Jul 12 - 02:53 AM (#3381590) Subject: RE: BS: Supermarkets benefit from the Olympics! From: Sandra in Sydney we've had 7-day opening & late night shopping for ages. It's almost 5pm Thursday here & most shops close at 9pm on Thursdays, & close somewhere between 4 & 7 other week days. Most open 9 to 4 or 5 on Saturdays & open an hour later on Sundays. sandra |
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26 Jul 12 - 05:12 AM (#3381631) Subject: RE: BS: Supermarkets benefit from the Olympics! From: MGM·Lion Many of our supermarkets are open 24 hours 6 days a week, but are required to close midnight Saturday, and open Sunday only from 0900-1630. It seems that the point of this thread is that some of them are managing somehow to extend the Sunday opening times an hour or two during the Olympics. I can't feel it a gross abuse that I shall lose that much sleep over. ~Michael~ |
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26 Jul 12 - 06:03 AM (#3381647) Subject: RE: BS: Supermarkets benefit from the Olympics! From: Leadfingers It was announced WEEKS ago that the Sunday Trading regulations were to be relaxed for the duration of the olympics . Does No One read a newspaper or listen to what is in the news anymore ? |
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26 Jul 12 - 07:30 PM (#3381981) Subject: RE: BS: Supermarkets benefit from the Olympics! From: Ebbie What is the rationale for the shortened Sunday hours in the first place? |
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26 Jul 12 - 08:07 PM (#3381989) Subject: RE: BS: Supermarkets benefit from the Olympics! From: GUEST,Ed Because Jesus and his dad said so. Keeping the Sabbath holy. This lot too: keepsundayspecial.org.uk |
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26 Jul 12 - 08:08 PM (#3381990) Subject: RE: BS: Supermarkets benefit from the Olympics! From: Don(Wyziwyg)T The Lord's Day Observance Society Ebbie, which has been a very powerful lobbying group in the UK, but has been losing some of its clout in recent years. Don T. |
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26 Jul 12 - 08:13 PM (#3381992) Subject: RE: BS: Supermarkets benefit from the Olympics! From: Don(Wyziwyg)T Also, a number of trades unions who don't want their members forced to work against their consciences, a non issue since they cannot be so forced. Didn't stop the unions getting in the way though, to protect the religious by depriving those who want the overtime. Let them as wants work, says I, but that's not the way the dissenters operate. Don T. |
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27 Jul 12 - 05:27 AM (#3382123) Subject: RE: BS: Supermarkets benefit from the Olympics! From: Will Fly Just to take a less black and white approach to working on Sunday - the subject can be quite ticklish in the workplace, for various reasons. The university at which I worked decided, many years ago, to open up various bits of itself - libraries, refectories, computer workshops, etc. - on Sundays. The managers of these areas (of whom I was one) discussed the ins and outs of it thoroughly with the staff. The overall conclusion was that, whilst no-one was actually jumping for joy at the prospect, they accepted that the students would welcome the opportunities brought by the increased hours. The chance to earn more money - i.e. double time on Sundays - was actually of marginal value. But what was interesting was the dynamic within the group of staff. Those who, in their heart of hearts, probably didn't want to work on Sundays, agreed to the change in hours. This was perhaps because they wanted to appear to be part of the team - or perhaps because they didn't want to appear selfish to their colleagues. Who knows. In the end, there were no problems, a few grumbles here and there, and Sunday working went ahead. For me - who also participated in the Sunday working, by the way - it was interesting to see how peer pressure played its part in the debate and the final decision. So - when we say that no-one is obligated to work on a Sunday if they don't want to - just remember that peer pressure to do so can't be ignored. To take a decision not to work unsocial hours when all around you are doing so may not be as easy to make as you think. |
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27 Jul 12 - 06:54 AM (#3382155) Subject: RE: BS: Supermarkets benefit from the Olympics! From: Don(Wyziwyg)T Over the years Will, I've worked for a number of companies where unsocial hours had to be covered, and I have seen very few cases in which I could not find a colleague eager to swap for the extra money. I have always refused Sunday work, not, I hasten to add for religious reasons, but simply to keep one day a week for family. In six years driving buses I actually worked seven or eight Sunday shifts, even having one colleague who did all my Sundays for two and a half years straight. Don T. |
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27 Jul 12 - 07:11 AM (#3382163) Subject: RE: BS: Supermarkets benefit from the Olympics! From: GUEST,Peter One thing that I have noticed about the people who want everything 24*7 is a tendency to be in nice comfortable 9 to 5 jobs. |
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27 Jul 12 - 07:24 AM (#3382171) Subject: RE: BS: Supermarkets benefit from the Olympics! From: Will Fly Don, I think real tension could arise if a company changes its policy to working on Sunday and nobody wanted to do it! Would there be a stand-off? I don't know because luckily I've never been in that situation... If you want to join a company where Sunday working is the norm, then it's probably a different kettle of fish - you either accept the specific working conditions in that company before you take a job there, or look elsewhere. One of the reasons that some of my people preferred TOIL (Time Off In Lieu) to extra money was that, while you can tax money, you can't tax time! |
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27 Jul 12 - 04:57 PM (#3382392) Subject: RE: BS: Supermarkets benefit from the Olympics! From: GUEST,.gargoyle the proxy servers are overwhelmed - to bypass the bbc and ioc blocks on live coverage outside the uk..... However, the guardian ... and a grip of tweets are doing a good job of covering "the slum dog " quality of the opening ceremony. www.guardian.co.uk/sport/london-2012-olympics-blog/2012/jul/27/london-2012-olympics-live-blog Sincerely, Gargoyle Good thing they had all those nurses ready to attend to the burn victums of the pyro rings. |
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27 Jul 12 - 05:13 PM (#3382397) Subject: RE: BS: Supermarkets benefit from the Olympics! From: melodeonboy My original post was not, per se, questioning the rights and wrongs of Sunday opening (although that may be implied), but to ask whether supermarkets are a law unto themselves or not, and how much sway the supermarket/food industry lobby has over government. And nobody's explained yet why they need to open longer during the olympics! Do people eat more while they're sitting on the settee watching other people run around? :-) |
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27 Jul 12 - 06:49 PM (#3382426) Subject: RE: BS: Supermarkets benefit from the Olympics! From: Don(Wyziwyg)T ""One of the reasons that some of my people preferred TOIL (Time Off In Lieu) to extra money was that, while you can tax money, you can't tax time!"" You can't buy food with time either. That is a point of view, I confess, I have never been able to understand. Don't these guys realise that an extra twenty quid tax equals an extra eighty quid in their pockets? I tell you honestly, I wish I was paying £100 a week in tax right now. I'd be able to afford holidays that didn't involve self catering in a mobile snail shell with the thermal capacity of a sheet of toilet tissue. Don T. Don T. |
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27 Jul 12 - 06:53 PM (#3382428) Subject: RE: BS: Supermarkets benefit from the Olympics! From: Don(Wyziwyg)T I don't think there would be a stand off Will. If the workers won't do it, the firm doesn't work Sundays, unless they can find part timers who want to do it, or use agency staff. Don |