Parties trade insults in competition to see who is most pro-worker
Stock image of the grounds of Belfast City Hall(Image: Belfast Live)
Belfast City Hall was the scene of an extended slanging match during a debate on Sunday trading hours as the DUP accused other parties of “anti-worker policies”.
The chamber during the monthly full Belfast City Council meeting on Monday evening agreed Sunday trading hours in Belfast will be extended for two days this summer during the Fleadh in August. Larger shops across Belfast will be allowed to open at 11am on August 2 and 9 – the normal hours are from 1pm to 6pm on a Sunday.
A plan, pushed by the Alliance Party, to extend Sunday trading hours in Belfast by turning the city into an economic “holiday resort” for 13 Sundays between June and September this year was voted down, as was a DUP proposal to not change the hours at all.
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19 councillors were in favour of the DUP proposal, from the unionist parties, while 41 were against it. 10 were for the Alliance proposal, from the Alliance Party itself, while all the rest were against. The proposal that was agreed came from Sinn Féin, and was passed at the 20 member Strategic Policy and Resources Committee in May. It was ratified on Monday after the other proposals failed.
The ratification came after an hour-long debate in which party members hurled abuse at each other over their attitude to workers and the working class.
DUP Alderman Dean McCullough, who proposed the hours stay the same, said “Sundays are different” and “this country, whether some want to admit it or not, was built on Judeo Christian foundations.”
He said: “If Sunday is to be treated like any other day then why are Alliance offices not open on Sundays? Or is it simply the case that some politicians will enjoy a leisurely Sunday morning in the city centre, sipping their lattes, while ordinary retail workers are expected to pick up the shifts.
“We couldn’t possibly have Alliance members making their own coffee on a Sunday, that wouldn’t do.”
He added: “What astonishes me most in all of this is Sinn Féin. The parties forever posing for selfies on picket lines and lecturing everyone else on worker’s rights now suddenly finds itself ignoring the very workers and unions who opposed this.”
He said: “As for the SDLP and Greens, I simply do not have the speech allocation to catalogue their compromises on this issue.
“You cannot claim to champion workers one year and then vote through anti-worker proposals the next.”
Alliance Councillor Sam Nelson, who proposed the 13 week Sunday trading extension, said: “Overwhelmingly, the people of Belfast want this. It offers a choice for shoppers, it offers a choice for workers, it offers a choice for shop owners.”
TUV Councillor Ron McDowell said: “There is no choice when you are told to come in by your employer. It is something you must do.”
Alliance Councillor Michael Long said: “Belfast said yes, the Alliance Party said yes, and everybody else in here doesn’t know what they want.” He added: “Workers cannot be forced, through the current legislation, to work on a Sunday.”
He referred to Councillor McCullough as “Reverend McCullough,” and added: “People from Belfast are not all from the Christian religions, they are from all sorts of religions, and it is time we remembered we are building an inclusive Belfast.”
Green Party Councillor Brian Smyth said: “The unions have indicated they are ok with a two-day trial, and we are happy with that.
“The DUP… has obviously embraced socialism. Alliance has shown a chronic lack of ideas and any sort of vision for this city. We are talking about a two-hour window between 11am and 1pm, and Alliance are again asking those with the least to do the most. They are asking low paid retail workers to give up 18 Sunday mornings.
“Don’t tell me they have a choice, we know the power imbalance between huge multinational corporations on those on zero-hours contracts. The bottom line is Alliance does not understand working class communities.”
Michael Collins from People Before Profit said: “It is hard to stomach the unionist members in the chamber trying to tokenistically whip out workers rights, as a kind of expendable principle, on a whim. Whenever a cursory look at their record in government shows they are determined to trample all over worker’s rights.
“They supported Thatcher’s anti-trade union laws, voted to retain it at Stormont, introduced zero-hours in every sector, and are holding out on the Good Jobs bill. Lets take it with a wheelbarrow of salt, when the DUP are in any way supportive of worker’s rights. Nevertheless, I will agree with them that we shouldn’t be extending these hours.”
The successful Sinn Féin proposal urges that the council “continues negotiation,” and goes for a pilot for the two Sundays during the Belfast Fleadh, for businesses meeting the threshold. An amendment from the SDLP, which was accepted, was for the council to look at including “animation” and car-free Sunday programmes within the holiday resort designation.
The move will allow shops with a floor space of more than 280 square meters to open anytime, instead of the current 1pm start time, on the two days. Many oppose the extended Sunday trading, including trade union USDAW and Retail NI, who voice concerns about the exploitation of staff and warn it could benefit large multinationals at the expense of small independent businesses.
Some welcome the proposal, notably the shopping centres, the Belfast Chamber, the Hotel Federation, Visit NI, and the Belfast Business Improvement Districts, as a way to boost city centre footfall while helping tourism.
Under legislation, NI councils may designate any or all areas in its district as a holiday resort”. This means that for 18 Sundays between 1 March and 30 September in any calendar year, apart from Easter Sunday, a large shop which has a relevant floor area exceeding 280 square metres may open extra hours on Sundays in accordance with notice given to the council.
Three Northern Ireland councils currently have a holiday resort designation – Derry City and Strabane District Council, Newry, Mourne and Down District Council, and Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council.
Belfast Council has consulted on the designation of the city centre as a holiday destination under the legislation on several previous occasions, and the latest survey, conducted earlier this year received 5,701 responses, with a further 101 responses to the business survey.
The consultation showed overall 79 percent of individuals expressed that the extension of Sunday opening hours would be positive, with 19 percent reporting it as a negative. While respondents were not asked to prove if they were Belfast residents, the survey states Belfast residents were 82 percent positive for extending Sunday trading, while Belfast retail workers were 48 percent positive, and 47 negative on the idea. Those who currently shop on Sundays were 90 percent positive, while those who don’t shop on Sundays were 77 percent negative.
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