Our day of rest doesn’t have to be Sunday
This was my column in The Malta Independent on Sunday, yesterday.
I really wish the Catholic Church in Malta would stop fussing, once and for all, about shops opening on a Sunday if their owners and their customers think it a good idea.
That fuss has started up again because the shopkeepers’ union has lobbied the government, successfully, to allow shops to open on public holidays without having to get specific permission to do so against payment of €700.
If a public holiday falls on a Sunday, the public-holiday status wins out over Sunday status and shops may open, which they are not permitted to do on ordinary Sundays.
The arguments which the Catholic Church has put forward once more are irritating because they are inconsistent and full of holes, and they are based on reasoning which does not reflect contemporary mores. It is right, of course, to insist that everyone who works needs at least one day off each week to recuperate, spend time with friends and family, and do his own thing. But this is written into our labour laws, which make mandatory not just one but two days off each week.
The Catholic Church no longer needs to defend the workers’ right to a day off, at least in the European Union, because the state has long since seen to that. The difference is that the Catholic Church specifically requires that day to be Sunday, for reasons that are unclear, given that the archaic ban on Sunday work has, out of necessity, fallen into abeyance.
The reality is that many people who routinely get their day off on Monday rather than Sunday – like everyone who works on Sunday newspapers including this one, for instance – actually prefer it that way. Having a day off when most of the country is stuck in an office or factory actually makes it feel like more of a holiday.
You feel luckier – and, besides, you get to do something people who have Sundays off can’t do on their Sundays off: go to the shops at leisure. It’s the same feeling we all knew back in our school-days when for some reason we got to stay home without being too ill to be confined to barracks. It’s that wonderful feeling of being free when all your schoolmates are at their desks struggling with logarithms.
Also, ruling out work on a Sunday is quite impossible, so what exactly is the Catholic Church – the Maltese outpost, at least – saying here? Surely it is not suggesting that what is sauce for the goose is not sauce for the gander, that it is perfectly all right for thousands of people who work in sectors x, y and z to toil away on a Sunday, but not all right for those who works in shops. This would be illogical and inconsistent.
It is not enough to qualify the statement by saying that it is all right to work on Sunday if your labour is essential to the proper functioning of the country – if you are an air traffic controller or a hotel chambermaid – but not if you are a shop assistant in a boutique because people don’t actually need to buy clothes on Sunday.
Sunday work is either wrong or it isn’t wrong. Qualifying its wrongness by saying it is acceptable in some cases opens up a Pandora’s box of problems for other Catholic prohibitions.
The fact is that the Catholic Church can no longer proscribe Sunday work because contemporary life has made that impossible. Actually, post-World War II life made it impossible, only now it’s even more complicated. And if you can’t proscribe it for all, then you certainly can’t proscribe it for some.
Given that 90% of Maltese are nominally Catholic, though largely of the pick-and-choose variety, the country would grind to a halt if we all suddenly and conveniently discovered a conscience about Sunday work.
Why, all those people busy relaxing and spending time with the family instead of going shopping wouldn’t even be able to eat Sunday lunch in a restaurant because somebody else would have to be paid to serve and cook it. So what would happen instead is that at least one adult in most households would end up working on Sunday anyway, chopping, cooking, serving and clearing up the mess afterwards. But that probably wouldn’t count as work because nobody pays her. Or him.
And God help you if you happen to fall over and break a leg on Sunday, because the doctors and nurses, in their eagerness to obey God, will not be there to help you. Your consolation is that you won’t end up in hospital after being run over by the proverbial bus, because this being Sunday, bus drivers won’t be working.
As for, say, gardeners, they can stay home and spend the whole of Sunday labouring hard in their own gardens, but should they decide to earn a bit of extra money by fitting in a day at a client instead, that’s work because you get money for it, so no-no-no. None of it makes any sense at all.
The bit that the Catholic Church really doesn’t understand, as far as I can make out from its statement a couple of days ago, is that people now view shopping as a social experience and a form of entertainment. For many, Sunday is about the only day of the week they might have to trawl about the shops, and they love it, though they have to wait for December or special ‘open days’.
They’re working Monday to Friday, Saturdays are packed with errands which involve businesses they can’t reach on Monday to Friday (because they’re working) or on Sunday (because they’re closed) and with taking the children from one lesson to another. Also, Sundays when it’s too cool for the beach leave many people with nowhere to go. Quite frankly, it’s not everyone who loves to sit with another 500 people in a field with an hour spent locked in traffic at either end.
The Church statement, which was released through the Pastoral Commission, said that Sunday should be “a day of the Lord, a day of rest, a day to spend with the family, and a social day”. If families go to mass, then have lunch in a restaurant and do a spot of shopping together, all those boxes are ticked. True, not for the shop assistants, but then neither for the restaurant workers, and that’s happening already.
The Pastoral Commission said that not having to work on Sunday is a right and not a privilege. How did it reach this conclusion and more particularly, why is it a right for some and not for others?
Today is Sunday. While you read this newspaper, journalists and production staff will be hard at work at the office, producing tomorrow’s edition while pre-press workers and printers will be standing by ready to print it. Early this morning, a network of deliverymen criss-crossed Malta, while you were still sleeping, to make sure you got this edition. Newsagents opened their doors at 6am and 7am so that you could buy it. Imagine if we all said we have a right to do nothing on Sunday and then didn’t.
The Curia’s Pastoral Commission asked – rather irresponsibly, I thought – whether people would be permitted to refuse to work on Sunday because of their beliefs, or if they are “going to be made to work”. But tens of thousands of Maltese people now work on Sundays already and have done so for years.
What makes shop assistants a special case, or is the Church now suggesting, out of the blue, that Catholics are perfectly entitled to refuse to work on Sunday and that employers and labour laws should discriminate in their favour and against everyone else?
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There is one question which needs to be asked here: will society be better off if the meaning of Sunday as a “different” sort of day is removed?
“Different” not in the religious sense. Sunday is a day in which, by and large, society takes a break from the usual routine. As you say to “spend time with friends and family”, among other things.
This is also given recognition by the fact that people who have to work on Sundays in essential services are given double pay, or an allowance. Thus, those who cannot enjoy a Sunday off because of their calling are compensated for it.
[Daphne – Society does not change because shops open on Sunday, Albert. Most people do not work in shops. They work in business which are open from Monday to Friday during office hours. That won’t change, not because of any moral view business owners might have about opening offices on Sundays, but because when you’re running an office and have to give your employees two days off each week, it makes sense to have those days off ‘fixed’. It also makes sense to fix them when everybody else does, so that your office can talk to all the other offices.]
Now, will society be a better place when there will not be any longer this “different” day? If my day off is Sunday, my wife’s is Monday, my son’s is Tuesday, my daughter’s is Wednesday and my best friend’s is Thursday, when am I going to, again in your words “spend time with friends and family”?
[Daphne – By the time your daughter is working, Albert, she won’t be wanting to spend weekends with you, so the problem is sort of hypothetical anyway. She might not even be working in Malta in the first place. As for your wife, if it’s really that big a deal, one of you should just switch jobs. Most people don’t bother. Think of all those people married to those who work 36-hour shifts.]
On which day will, for example, Dr Gonzi and Dr Muscat pronounce their weekly homily in front of people who have gathered in their political club to spend a free morning?
You ask what makes shop assistants special not to work on Sundays? Well, indeed, what? But for that matter, what makes bank employees special? What makes government employees special? What makes employees in the insurance sector special?
When Sunday becomes an ordinary day, as is clearly on the agenda, how long will it take before someone appears on TV or writes in the papers asking why on earth should workers in essential services be paid double?
For society at large this Sunday argument has very little to do with religion, but much, much to do with workers’ rights.
When I was in the sixth form, I used to work as a waitress as well. We did get our two days off, which most of the time were during the week. It made sense, as the bulk of our customers came on Friday/Saturday/Sunday.
We were not paid double on a Sunday or on public holidays, but since we got our two days off, it didn’t really matter.
Whilst at university, I worked as a salesgirl in a boutique. One of the outlets was in a shopping complex that opened on Sundays. In this case, we were paid double on Sundays, and we decided whether we wanted to work Sundays or not.
So in this case, it did make sense for the pay to be doubled, as we might have accepted not have our two days off and keep on working seven days a week. Given that I worked full time in the summer months only, it helped me quite a bit, as I never refused a Sunday shift, and at the end of the summer, I had put away enough money to last me for my car insurance and registration, and extra spending money for the rest of the year.
I think it really goes against business that shops close on Sundays, as with people working “normal” weeks (Monday to Friday split shift), our Saturdays are taken up with grocery shoppping and other errands.
Would you prefer it if shops were allowed to open all days of the week as long as employees are paid adequately? Or would you prefer it if, like me, everyone buys clothes over the internet because everywhere in Malta is closed on Sundays?
Many workers, including civil servants operating in ‘essential’ services, are no longer paid double rates (or at any other special rate) on Sundays. If one worker’s productive hours are evenly split across all days of the week, such as those working at shifts, then one should not expect extra income just because it happened that his shift included working on a Saturday or a Sunday in some weeks.
A valid argument would be: if I am a non-Catholic owner of a business / shop / or what have you, and want to operate on Sundays – why can’t I operate just because the Church says so?
Or why should my increased business achieved on Sunday be offset by fees?
Once I had to photocopy some notes for my friend during a study weekend. You can imagine our frustration when we were refused photocopying service (by a perfectly functional photocopier) just because ‘illum gazzetti biss hi.’
“Or why should my increased business achieved on Sunday be offset by fees?” My point exactly.
Apparently, Sunday allowance is being questioned already.
[Daphne – The fee in question is that paid for a permit to open. Overtime or time-and-a-half is not a ‘fee’. Besides, people are paid overtime/time-and-a-half when they work an extra day, and not necessarily on Sunday. If Sunday is a routine working day, and your day off is routinely Monday, you are not paid overtime on Sunday. But you are paid overtime if you are called in on Monday.]
Workers in essential services are paid double time on Sunday in most places of work. The idea underlying this is that they are working on a day which society considers as ideally a day of rest and relaxation. So they are given compensation.
[Daphne – Not really, no. They’re not paid double or time-and-a-half unless they are not usually called in on Sunday, or operate on a ‘rotation’ basis. People who always work on Sunday, like journalists who have to produce the Monday edition, are not paid extra. It’s just part of the job.]
Well….if they are not in a strong union they would not be paid double, sure. And shopkeepers, as the argument began with them, are probably the least unionised workers in Malta. Who is going to stand for their rights?
I was actually discussing this issue with a friend the other day, how shop opening hours in Malta are ridiculous because shops are mostly open when almost everyone is at work. Which means that if you want to buy something and have a 9-5 job, you have either two options.
The first is to make a last-gasp dash to the shops after work when you hardly feel like doing anything except chilling out on the couch in front of the telly.
The second option is Saturday morning (as most shops close by 1pm anyway), which means that if you had a late night out on the Friday or had a drink too many and woke up with a bit of a hangover, by the time you get back to your senses, the shops are shut.
If you run out of milk on a Sunday, you either have to stick to black coffee or see if your neighbour will lend you some.
[Daphne – You can also go to Maypole, most confectioners now stock milk, and Scotts in Burmarrad are definitely open on Sundays until noon. So is Arkadia at Portomaso.]
My work makes me spend a lot of my time in the UK, where obviously the Sunday restriction is nonexistent. If you go to a supermarket or a shop during the week, you’re in and out in a jiffy. Go on a Saturday or Sunday, and everywhere is heaving with people.
I am of the opinion that the loosening of these restrictions will actually boost the economy, because people will have more time to shop and do it at their own leisure and, in some cases, it’s also a means of socializing and entertainment.
If the income and working hours of retailers increases, they’ll be able to employ more people. So that’s less people out of a job, and more money in people’s pockets.
[Daphne – Yes, I think you’re right. Exactly who do they expect to be shopping for clothes and other stuff Monday to Friday from 9am to 7pm? People who aren’t working and so have hardly any disposable income? It’s also crazy the way all furniture showrooms and bathroom centres and similar are closed after 12.30/1pm on Saturday, which is the only day of the week when couples cam do their house-stuff hunting. If I owned a furniture showroom, I’d close all day on Monday and open all day on Sunday. But for this kind of thing you need critical mass: lots of showrooms have to do it, because for one showroom visit, people won’t bother on a Sunday. But if they could spend the day doing the lot, then they will.]
Actually, to be more precise, if I recall correctly from my time spent living in London, shops abruptly stop trading at 5 pm. on a Sunday. If you’re at a department store you will hear an announcement asking you to proceed to check out. I also seem to remember that shops open on Sunday mornings for viewing only until noon, that is. Past noon, you can actually buy stuff. Then again I’m not sure if Tesco’s and the supermarkets were an exception and if I used to do my grocery shopping in the morning. .
The supermarkets would also stay open till midnight on weekdays and corner shops would close at 10 pm. The only downside to Sunday shopping is that it makes a great outing and dents your budget. Then again, when I worked in central London, I used to spend my lunch hour walking to Regent and Oxford Street to do my shopping. After office hours it was either Covent Garden or Canary Wharf.
Since moving back to Malta, I haven’t set foot in an actual shop as I shop online. Sunday trading could give the local retail sector a boost as from what I gather online shopping is fast becoming the norm in Malta.
Then we look down our noses at Jews who observe Shabbat….
Might be a bit far-fetched, but rules are rules.
If an enemy soldier shoots at you on a Saturday evening at 23:59 and you are a Catholic soldier and you follow God’s commandments, then you are not to shoot back, because it is now 00:00 Sunday morning and you should stop working and take a rest…….maybe in peace.
Yeah, right.
Daphne – thanks for bringing this up. As you stated, the arguments brought forward by the Catholic Church are wrong and go to prove how detached they are from today’s times and realities.
Nonetheless, similar to the issue on divorce, they have a right to voice their opinion and I personally do not bother much about it, more and more so because a good percentage of the population has some common sense to reason like you are doing.
Yet, on the other hand, it is the respective ministry which must act and do more to sort out our antiquated trading laws.
One other law which needs to be addressed is the current limitation that a store cannot open beyond 7pm on more than one evening per week. This is totally wrong and needs to be addressed.
The economic boost that extended hours can generate to a business can make a big and positive difference. The social convenience is also pretty obvious especially when people tend to work late hours.
This is actually the solution. Why should shops open only till 7pm? In fact I always wonder how is it that those who claim they are striving for longer working hours in the name of people “who work overtime and who have no time to shop” always attack the fact that shops are closed on Sundays.
They do not mention the 7pm restriction. Extending shopping hours by no means putting an end to the Sunday tradition.
Priests work on a Sunday. They say mass and hear confession.
‘And on the seventh day, God rested’. Why?
Because he was fagged out after six days of non-stop DIY. He had to make the whole universe from scratch, and no power tools in sight.
When I was in Zurich, I could easily buy on a Sunday from an automatic shop, with no sales-people. You just punch the number of the object, put the money in the slot and there you are – the thing comes up to the “cat flap” – no fuss – workers happy at home with family and shop owner because customers come shopping.