Retail Workers Deserve a New Year’s Day Break

That the Parliament is dismayed by the reported calls from several major business representative groups and industry bodies, including CBI Scotland, Scottish Property Federation, Scottish Chambers of Commerce, and the Scottish Retail Consortium, encouraging the Scottish Government to reject a ban that would prevent shops from trading on New Year’s Day; supports the original petition, which was unanimously backed by the Scottish Parliament Public Petitions Committee, from the USDAW trade union, to bring in the changes in recognition that shopworkers deserve a decent break over New Year after keeping the nation fed and delivering essential services; recognises that some retail workers can face difficulties in working on New Year’s Day due to a lack of public transport and childcare provision; understands the proposed ban will only affect large shops, which in turn could allow smaller retailers to operate with less competition from larger chains; believes that giving retail workers an extra day off at New Year is the very least that can be done in recognition of the services provided by them over the festive period as well as in gratitude for keeping the country moving over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, and further believes that society should put workers' rights and decent working standards at the forefront of the economy and not simply the pursuit of profit.