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Grekodom reports:
Economy Minister, Dimitris Papadimitriou, signed the new law that allows the voluntary operation of shops on Sundays.
The new law 4427/2017 allows for retail stores in central Athens, Thessaloniki, and tourist areas to be open on Sundays for six months of the year during tourist season. The opening of retail stores on Sundays is a prerequisite of Greece's bailout program.
The Federation of Private Sector Employees has called a 24-hour strike to protest the decision while the Hellenic Confederation of Commerce and Entrepreneurship (ESEE) said it will appeal it to the Council of State.
The ministerial decision determines, in great detail, specific areas where the shops can open on Sundays.
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New Greek Law Allows Sunday Shopping
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Croll's Query:
If tin whistles are made of tin, what are foghorns made of?
(Score: 2) by driverless on Wednesday July 26 2017, @12:51AM (11 children)
It seems to be religious-based, the church wants the weekend to be free of anything but praying on Sunday. Or wanted, I don't know if they care any more now, and I've yet to meet anyone who actually thinks it's a good idea. It's just stuck there because of inertia, "we've always done it this way".
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 26 2017, @01:07AM (5 children)
- IBTimes [ibtimes.com]
(Score: 4, Interesting) by kazzie on Wednesday July 26 2017, @10:27AM (4 children)
I recall similar arguments in the UK (specifically England and Wales) in the lead up to the 1994 Sunday Trading Act [wikipedia.org]. Before then, there'd be virtually no shops open on a Sunday. Large shops are now limited to six hours of trading on a Sunday, and while smaller shops (less than 3,000 sq ft) can stay open longer, most follow similar hours. (Exceptions are convenience stores, etc.)
Opening Pubs on a Sunday was another big issue: it was banned in Wales from 1881 [wikipedia.org], (non-conformist Christianity and temperance were very strong in Wales at the time) and was only permitted county by bounty from the 1960s onward.
Restrictions on alcohol sales and general retail were relaced on railways and ferries. This is portrayed in the 1953 film The Titfield Thunderbolt [wikipedia.org], where a wealthy local is presuaded to support the reopening of the village's railway line because they could legally open a bar on the train earlier than pubs were allowed to open.
Entrepeneurs took this idea a step further and bought an old passenger ferry [wikipedia.org] in 1979 and moored her up on the North Wales coast, with the intention of operating bars, clubs and shops on her, which could be open for longer hours (including on Sunday) because they were aboard a ship. Due to much acrimony and legal wrangling, it was never a success. The ship is still moored up there today, abandoned, rusting and recently plastered with graffiti.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 26 2017, @05:01PM (1 child)
About that last bit: graffiti artists were commissioned, according to the "Future plans" section of the article you've linked. Hence the graffiti aren't (entirely) vandalism.
(Score: 2) by kazzie on Wednesday July 26 2017, @09:55PM
Much of it was indeed commissioned, and the various pieces cover a lot of the hull (hence "plastered"). A selection of before and after images can be seen here [dailymail.co.uk].
(Score: 2) by turgid on Wednesday July 26 2017, @05:07PM (1 child)
Sunday trading was never illegal in Scotland and when I was a teenager I worked part time in a supermarket. Sunday used to be paid at double time and the shop opened later and closed earlier on a Sunday but at the age of 16 I really used to appreciate getting 6 hours work on a Sunday. The only problem was, they gave me lots of Sunday shifts and I was very tired as a result and my school work suffered. My parents were unsympathetic.
I refuse to engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent [wikipedia.org].
(Score: 2) by kazzie on Wednesday July 26 2017, @09:46PM
Ah, double-time for Sundays! I had a bit of that in the decade or so after the 1994 act for England and Wales, and (for various reasons) was in the rota for every Sunday too. I was glad of the extra money.
Now that Sunday trading is so commonplace (in England and Wales), very few companies offer double time or even time-and-a-half for Sundays. There's still the legal right for employees to formally opt out of working Sundays, though.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by tftp on Wednesday July 26 2017, @01:56AM (4 children)
Maybe it relates to good old times when people lived together, in families, and had plenty of food in house. If some supplies run out, they can be borrowed from the neighbor or just ignored and something else can be made instead. People depended on stores only for occasional, large purchases of basic food (flour, potatoes) - even vegetables were their own. But today more and more people do not cook at home and eat at various establishments. Small groups (like one person) cannot even feed themselves "at home" without either wasting too much food that goes bad before it is eaten or focusing only on a few long-lasting items, like canned food. Even a simple thing like a Subway sandwich requires 10-15 ingredients that better be fresh. The easiest way to eat fresh food is to buy it at a restaurant - a place that has sufficient sales to daily order new supplies. I, personally, do not want to spend my time on something that I do not enjoy doing, and cooking is certainly one of those things. There are better things to do with a month of one's life than to spend it peeling potatoes by hand.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 26 2017, @04:20AM (2 children)
today more and more people do not cook at home and [instead] eat at various establishments
It's good to know that things are going so well where you are.
In Greece, the unemployment numbers are disastrous.
These days, Greece looks more and more like what used to be called a Third World country.
FTFS: Greece's bailout program
Greece's economy failed.
Instead of doing the smart thing and telling the banksters to go fuck themselves (as Iceland did[1]), Greece's ruling class has decided to pour money down the rathole that is the country's debt to German bankers.
The debt will never be paid, yet the wage earners, wannabe wage earners, and pensioners are all going to be bled dry by the government's incompetent efforts to fill the bottomless pit.
The SYRIZA Party claimed to be a Leftist bunch, but as soon as they took power, they went right back to austerity measures, same as with the previous overlords.
Beware of wolves in sheep's clothing.
Public holdings like airports are now being sold off (to foreigners).
It won't be long until Greece is just like colonial India WRT ownership of the means of production.
[1] Last count I saw, Iceland had put 26 of its banksters in prison.
-- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 3, Informative) by cafebabe on Wednesday July 26 2017, @10:39AM (1 child)
Population of Iceland was 332529. Population of Greece was about 10955000. Population of UK was about 65648000. Population of Germany was about 82175700. Population of US was 323127513. If these countries all imprisoned an equal proportion of bankers, Iceland would imprison 26 bankers, Greece would imprison 857 bankers, UK would imprison 5133 bankers, Germany would imprison 6425 bankers and US would imprison 25265 bankers.
1702845791×2
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 26 2017, @11:19AM
Q: What do you call 10,000 dead lawyers at the bottom of the sea?
A: A good start.
s/lawyers/bankers
-- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 26 2017, @07:23AM
It makes sure none of them are aged more than 13 years. :-P
For anyone who didn't get the reference: Jared. And go read about how Subway looked the other way.