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Union criticises change to Easter trading hours in WA

Thursday, 24 Mar 2016 08:51:59 | Briana Shepherd

The retail union is angry over the State Government's handling of Easter trading hours. (ABC TV)

The union representing retailers in Western Australia has labelled the State Government's handling of Easter trading hours as shambolic.

Retail hours for public holidays in WA are generally from 11:00am to 5:00pm, but an order published in the Government Gazette two days ago will allow general retail stores to open at 8:00am and close at 6:00pm on Easter Monday.

Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association secretary Peter O'Keeffe said there was no formal announcement of the change.

"I'm just amazed that the Minister has put this change through six days prior to the public holiday," he said.

"He hasn't announced it anywhere else."

But the Commerce Minister Michael Mischin has said the extended hours should come as no surprise because they were the same as Easter Monday last year.

They are also the same as a number of other public holidays.

Mr O'Keeffe said the Minister was aware of the union's position on the deregulation of trading hours, but at no point was it consulted or advised in advance.

"When you have stakeholders who are being left out of the conversation I don't think that's an appropriate position for the Government to take," Mr O'Keeffe said.

Small retailers left in the dark, union claims

He said what was more worrying for the union was the way the issue was handled.

"Two weeks ago the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI) announced the extended hours on its website," he said.

"Clearly the CCI knew what was going on, they're a very professional outfit and wouldn't advertise on their website to their members unless they're certain those trading hours are locked in.

"I can't work out who it is that's actually dictating trading hours in Western Australia, the Minister or the CCI."

Mr O'Keeffe said while most of the major retailers were made aware of the change in advance, it was the smaller chains left out of the loop.

"Some of our members from smaller chains had no idea what was going on," he said.

"If you were an independent retailer - you were running a small shop with maybe one or two people - I'm not sure what you would be thinking about these changes because you wouldn't really know about them unless you happened to read the Government Gazette."

Mr O'Keeffe said his efforts to speak to the Minister had failed.

AustraliaPlus


 

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