John Hannett – Usdaw General Secretary says: “Staff in retail work very long hours in the run-up to Christmas.  Our members tell us that they need time off to recuperate as well as to spend time with their family and friends.  That is especially important when they have children for whom Christmas is such a special time.

“Usdaw is seeking the longest possible break for retail staff over the Christmas and New Year period, to provide shopworkers with a breather during this very busy time. Usdaw won the campaign for legislation to stop large stores from opening on Christmas Day and we are calling for small stores to follow suit and stay shut. We are also calling for shops to be closed on Boxing Day and New Year’s Day; as well as early closing by 4pm on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve.

“Usdaw is not currently campaigning for any changes in shop trading hours legislation, in fact we have been busy defending the existing restrictions against deregulation, but we welcome the debate this petition is generating.”

Notes for editors:

Usdaw (Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers) is the UK's fourth biggest and the fastest growing trade union with over 435,000 members. Membership has increased by more than 10% in the last five years and by nearly a third in the last decade. Most Usdaw members work in the retail sector, but the Union also has many members in transport, distribution, food manufacturing, chemicals and other trades.
 
Stop shops opening on Boxing Day Petition:
https://www.change.org/p/th...

For Usdaw press releases visit: www.usdaw.org.uk/news and you can follow us on Twitter @UsdawUnion