Bill 8456 amending article L. 231-4 of the Labour Code, tabled on 12 November by labour minister (CSV), gave rise to . The confrontation was sufficiently violent that prime minister (CSV) was forced to defend his minister and reaffirm . Barely a week after the bill was submitted to the Chamber of Deputies, the Chamber of Employees (Chambre des salariés, CSL) issued its opinion, which was unanimously adopted by the plenary session on 14 November. Unsurprisingly, the CSL rejected a draft law “drawn up without respect for social dialogue and without respect for the employees concerned, since it will adversely affect their working conditions and pay.”
In terms of form, the CSL said it was “distressed by this unilateral decision to liberalise Sunday working in the retail sector, whose employees are already among the most vulnerable on the labour market, without any discussion with their representatives and therefore with no regard for social dialogue, thereby flouting the role of the trade unions in several respects,” and thus returning to the criticisms that the OGBL and LCGB trade unions had levelled at Mischo.
Negotiation rather than law
Bill 8456 applies only to the retail sector. A sector where, according to the CSL, “it is not essential to work on Sundays.” The government’s proposal is to allow employees to work up to eight hours on Sundays, compared with the current four hours, while maintaining the additional pay for all hours worked. For the CSL, which notes that “wages in this sector are already very low,” it would have been preferable for the question of Sunday working “to be negotiated within the framework of collective labour agreements, with the unions as safeguards and with a concern to protect the interests of the employees concerned,” rather than laid down by law. A law that “will allow employers to automatically give their employees eight hours of work on Sundays with no compensation other than that provided for by law and without having to negotiate a collective agreement.”
The unions fear that the Mischo project “not only paves the way for the possible liberalisation of opening hours, but also considerably weakens collective labour agreements in a sector that has a low coverage rate (38% according to the latest figures).” “For a long time now, it has been possible to remove the four-hour limit by means of a collective agreement, and only for employees who agree, and generally in return for an increase in the Sunday bonus. This was a pragmatic way of ensuring that Sunday remained a special day. With this project, Sunday will become a day like any other. The next step will probably be to call into question the increase in Sunday pay--and other areas will follow,” explains the CSL.
The chamber believes that by denying the specific nature of Sunday working, this will lead to difficulties for employees who will have to deal with problems of childcare--a greater problem for single-parent families, insists the CSL--and the availability of adequate public transport. These are problems “ignored by the law.”
For the CSL, “if, by any chance, this bill were to be adopted,” the overall legal framework would have to be reviewed in order to provide greater protection for employees. “The question of Sunday working should be the subject of a comprehensive discussion on all aspects of the organisation of working time. Indeed, if the government really intends to modernise working time, with a view to making it easier for employees to reconcile work and family life, it is absolutely essential to adopt a coherent and comprehensive approach.”
Towards a reform of the law on opening hours in the retail sector
The issue of Sunday working was also raised in the Chamber of Deputies during the government question time on 14 November. Asked by MP (LSAP)--speaking on behalf of the trade unions--whether bill 8456 could lead the government to amend the law on opening hours in the retail sector, economy minister (DP) began by saying that this law had nothing to do with labour law. And that this law, which is not limited to the retail sector, currently only operates by way of derogations, particularly for Sunday openings. Derogations that can be introduced by local authorities--“the local authorities of Bissen, Diekirch, Echternach, Erpeldange, Esch-sur-Sûre, Vianden, Frisange, Luxembourg, Wasserbillig, Mondorf, Remich, Winseler, Grevenmacher, Rumelange, Bettembourg, Beckerich, Clervaux, Schengen, Troisvierges and Weiswampach are systematically requesting them for the whole year. This means that in these areas, shops can open on any Sunday they wish, with the exception of 1 January, 1 May, and 25 and 26 December”--as well as by the different business sectors. For Delles, this law, “which no longer works,” must be amended. The minister indicated that he had met the unions on 13 November for an initial discussion. He indicated that he would then meet the various employers' federations.
This article was originally published in .