My Submission on Why I Opppose Easter Sunday Trading
Submission to Tauranga City Council re Allowing Shops to Open on Easter Sunday Across the City
As I reflect on this issue I have been asking myself
two questions:
1.
what do we
gain as a city?
2.
what do we
lose?
I will base
my comments around those 2 questions
1.
What do we gain? – very little
-
not going to attract a whole lot more people here
o we already have Jazz festival –
where many people come to listen to Jazz
§ enjoy bars and restaurants –
which this policy does not affect
o experience beautiful place we
call Tauranga Moana
-
they don’t come because of our great shopping
-
we all have limited money to spend, whether that is on one day or over
two.
2.
What do we lose? – great deal.
a) the dominant society and culture
in Aotearoa is based upon Christian values and beliefs
o because until very recently vast
majority of people live here where happy to be identified as Christian even if
they did not go to church
-
half still identifying themselves as such
o those values prioritise people,
family, relationships, community and space to rest
§ over production, consumerism, and
profit
o Current policy of having shops
closed on Good Friday and Easter Sunday remind us of the Christian roots or our society
o affirm the importance of those
values
o in discarding that policy and
allowing shops to open on Easter Sunday we are losing contact with these roots and are walking away from these important
values – at our cost as a community.
b) What about other countries – what
do they do?
è England and USA - two other countries
that share the same Christian roots to their values system –– according to the
internet severely limit what shops are able to open on Easter Sunday.
o USA is home of greedy capitalism
– mantra many is “greed is good”
o which is so clearly articulated
in Trump’s presidency
o people treated as either
producers or consumers in the market
o and profitmaking reigns supreme
o even here, shops are closed on
Easter Sunday.
o have to ask why we are in such a
hurry to abandon our roots and walk away from the values they represent?
o We only have 3 ½ days a year
where shops are closed-
o 3 ½ days which say for this time
we put people ahead of profit,
§ communities ahead of consumerism,
§ rest ahead of the endless call to
be productive and work.
o it is already too little
o why are we wanting to be rid of
one of them?
o
when
legislation led to current discussion was put before parliament, The Anglican
Archbishops in Aotearoa New Zealand wrote a submission
§
in
it they questioned what they call the “false freedom” of open-slather trading
on Easter Sunday.
§
they
suggested that such a move in the name
of “freedom” will strip away family freedom and workers’ rights.
I
quote
§ “The market has permeated every aspect of our
life. The question that we are faced with, and which Easter Sunday reminds us
of, is whether the market ultimately defines who we are, or whether there is
any human value that can exist outside the market – values like care for
others, compassion for those in need, justice, integrity, hope.”
§ “Are
we simply consumers, running like hamsters on a wheel in a market place, or is
there more to us than this? We believe
that there is more to life than this. The reality of Easter Sunday shows that
who we are as human beings is not ultimately determined by the market place, by
wealth, or by economics..”
Please don’t walk away from these values that are inherent in both Christian story and in or
society
c) Like the Archbishop I wonder
about the cost to small shop owners and workers
o they currently enjoy 2 days over
Easter to enjoy Jazz festival
o be family and friends
o rest from demands owning or
working in retail
o with no pressure to be open or to
work
o it is such a gift for these
people based on the values I have been talking about.
o while the policy might say that
shops would only open if they want to
o I wonder how that fits with
contractual obligations in places like Bayfair shopping centre
o psychological pressure of other
shops opening around you?
o whereas before they were just
shut with no pressure or guilt
o now that closing comes with
guilt, concern, pressure.
o rest is not as restful.
o In the ideal world this statement
might work
o we don’t live in the ideal world
o find it difficult to trust the
statement that employees would be entitled to refuse to work
o how does that work in places like
Bayfair when staff needs to be found
o or when owner decides to open and
needs staff to make that happen?
o many workers in retail earn
minimum wage
o they have little voice in when
they work
o saddened that group that is often
poorly paid with the least amount of voice are once again being asked to meet
the demands of others with very little remuneration
§ they don’t even get penalty rates.
o A day that was a gift for them to
be with friends and family with no pressure to work taken away from them
§ little gain for them
§ little gain for us as a city
è why do it?
In conclusion –
I would suggest that the benefits from allowing shops to open on Easter
Sunday are few and the costs to our community are too great
·
The costs of the placing of profit ahead of people and families
·
the cost to workers
are too great a price to pay
Ask you please to vote this proposal down
We have thrived with shops closed on Easter Sunday
allow us to continue to thrive as we have at Easter
please continue with policy that reminds us of the Christian roots to
our culture and values
that at its best treats people as important and not
as cogs in economic wheel
and values family, community and
rest over productivity, profit and consumerism.
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