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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(Score: 2) by Snotnose on Wednesday July 26 2017, @12:04AM (2 children)
Buying beer in a dry county after a 10 hour drive? Jeez, just consider the ramifications of that. I'll head to a restaurant, order a chicken fried steak, ask for a beer, and get told "um, you can't buy a beer for 30 miles around here"
They should post signs. When I'm doing a long drive I would love to see a "beer free zone, next 60 miles". I'll turn my ass around, buy a sixer, then continue on.
When the dust settled America realized it was saved by a porn star.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 26 2017, @12:25AM
A dude wanders into a convenience store in dry country, grumbles "no cerveza" and wanders out.
(Score: 2) by chromas on Wednesday July 26 2017, @12:28AM
But then nobody would go there. You see, it's Big Oil™ who lobbies for dry zones, because that means people have to drive more and buy more gas.
(Score: 3, Funny) by krishnoid on Wednesday July 26 2017, @12:24AM (4 children)
The strike is scheduled to start Saturday night at midnight, and ... hmm, wait a sec.
(Score: 2) by driverless on Wednesday July 26 2017, @12:31AM (3 children)
Although people make fun of Greece over this, it's no better in many other European countries. Planning to fly into Germany, Austria, France, or some other countries on the weekend? Remember to bring your own food, because nothing will be open.
In some cities you do get larger stores that stay open till 5pm Saturday, and I mean literally 5pm, at 16:50 they start shooing customers out of the shop so they can lock up at 17:00:00 on the dot, but they're few and far between, and on Sunday you're hosed. I always throw some food bricks into my suitcase so I'll be able to have something to eat when I arrive, and if I need toothpaste or soap or something that I've forgotten it has to wait till Monday morning.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 26 2017, @12:36AM (2 children)
Try to get any shopping done in Norway.. :-)
Shops closed when you quit the job and only Saturday to do it on otherwise. No rest from Friday work there..
(Score: 2) by driverless on Wednesday July 26 2017, @12:49AM
Ah, yeah, I did Vienna -> Oslo on a weekend, from one nothing-open-zone to the next. Luckily I still had the food bricks... "One Square Meal", like an MRE but with less variety and flavour.
"If a crow wants to fly down the Oslofjorden, he must carry his provisions with him" - Filip Sheridanssen.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 26 2017, @10:14PM
It's similar in some parts of Texas I've been, the only thing open after 5 are some of the drive thru liquor stores, not even the gas station open.
(Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 26 2017, @12:27AM (2 children)
who is john galt
(Score: 2) by JNCF on Wednesday July 26 2017, @12:42AM
Who loves Big Brother, What is John Galt. Strange as it may seem, they give actors nowadays very peculiar names.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 26 2017, @09:51AM
What is John Guilt? [everything2.com]
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday July 26 2017, @12:46AM (41 children)
I never would have thought that Europeans live with such archaic laws. At least here in the US, "Blue Laws" are aimed at "sinful" things, like alcohol. When I was a kid, most stores were closed on Sundays, but there were always places where you could find life's necessities. In fact, there was a huge shopping area in Youngstown, Ohio that was "always open". It was a twenty minute drive, which was a minor inconvenience, but whatever you needed was available.
(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.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by bob_super on Wednesday July 26 2017, @12:53AM (19 children)
Europe is modern. They can accept a job, paying a living wage, without fear that they'll be scheduled to work every week-end and never do anything with their kids.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 26 2017, @01:20AM (16 children)
Our local Walmart was open on our Fourth of July national holiday (Independence Day). Lucky for me, I was able to get a refill propane tank for the gas grill, which ran out when we started cooking dinner. The store was nearly empty and the manager who helped me was bitching about the lack of blue laws--he wanted to be home with his family but was required to work. I suggested that his problem wasn't with local government rules (because many other local stores were closed), it was with Walmart HQ in Bentonville, Arkansas where they want to extract every penny they can...and he grudgingly agreed.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by jmorris on Wednesday July 26 2017, @01:33AM (10 children)
It is stupidity all the way up and down. Back in the day, we had two major grocery stores in town. They would "collude" and one would open in the morning on Thanksgiving and the other would cover Christmas. Very few large tickets, lots of one or two item ones. So people who had forgotten something still had a way to get their stuff, only a few people had to go to work, you got paid overtime for it and got off in time to go home and still enjoy the holiday. Now of course they would all get charged for the "collusion" Not that it matters because now it is only WalMart and they are open 24/7/364. Everybody loses.
Retailers couldn't even get together and save Black Friday. One opened on Thanksgiving so now they all do. Since all the best deals are now on Thanksgiving I don't bother. Everybody loses. Collusion isn't always a bad thing.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 26 2017, @09:31AM (9 children)
Everybody loses, except the customer. Who can now shop 24/7/365. Sorry that's how capitalism works. The customer, is literally, King.
(Score: 2) by pgc on Wednesday July 26 2017, @11:34AM
The customer, who in turn is an employee as well, loses just the same.
The only winners are the business owners.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 26 2017, @11:43AM (7 children)
That is a MARKET.
Markets exist outside of Capitalism.
Another word that fits is BUSINESS.
Capitalism is an ownership model, BTW.
...and there's no reason that a (Socialist) worker-owned cooperative couldn't do the same thing.
-- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by turgid on Wednesday July 26 2017, @02:13PM (6 children)
The reason is that dirty word "socialist." It's been so misused you can't communicate using it any more.
I refuse to engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent [wikipedia.org].
(Score: 2) by FakeBeldin on Wednesday July 26 2017, @04:32PM (5 children)
That only applies to USA'ians. Around here, socialist doesn't have dirty overtones, it has overtones of caring for others.
Then again, maybe that's considered a Very Bad Thing in the states.
(Score: 2) by turgid on Wednesday July 26 2017, @04:53PM (1 child)
It's going that way here in the UK too. It's why we got Brexit [theguardian.com]. I think the idea is that each work-producing unit (human being) should be a net positive financial contributor to the economy or is waste (a Useless Eater). It's why we no longer pay the disabled, old, sick and young enough to eat properly or to have adequate shelter, and the economy is rigged to ensure that as much wealth as possible flows into the hands of the buisiness owners [theguardian.com] and land owners [theguardian.com].
I refuse to engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent [wikipedia.org].
(Score: 3, Funny) by realDonaldTrump on Wednesday July 26 2017, @05:10PM
Good for them, they are taking back their country, just like we will! 🇺🇸
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 26 2017, @06:53PM (2 children)
...and that's NOT Socialism.
Here's Socialism:
The collective ownership of the means of production by The Workers.
What you are describing is LIBERAL DEMOCRACY (when that is being done properly).
Sometimes that is called "Social Democracy" and that causes some people to get confused about terminology.
(In some places, it's called "Christian Democracy".)
-- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by FakeBeldin on Wednesday July 26 2017, @07:20PM (1 child)
Dude, seriously?
First of all: Communism [wikipedia.org]
You've been indoctrinated so much you cannot tell socialism from communism.
For reference, socialism:
Second of all: as I said, over here, socialism carries overtones of caring for others.
Apparently, in your neck of the woods the word "socialism" just another way of describing communism.
Just another example of being separated by a common language [tvtropes.org].
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 27 2017, @01:52AM
Communism [wikipedia.org]
As far as that blurb goes, it's OK.
It doesn't, however, mention the precursors (called out by Marx).
That would be Democracy and Socialism.
Socialism is an in-the-workplace thing.
Communism is communal ownership expanded to the society (e.g. ownership of natural monopolies).
...and both are bottom-up systems (so Leninism, Stalinism, Maoism, etc. are NOT examples of either.)
you cannot tell socialism from communism
Actually, it's you that has the problem.
Again, Marx defined these terms.
For reference, socialism:
Ah. Wikipedia again.
I've critiqued that page previously. [soylentnews.org]
It wanders all over the place with a lot of (erroneous) opinions and squishy language.
It is NOT a useful source of information.
over here
Over there, the people who actually know what they're talking about refer to what you are pointing to as LIBERAL DEMOCRACY controlled by OLIGARCHS.
It sounds like the talking heads on your Lamestream Media aren't any better than ours.
I suggest that you find better sources.
The source of information which I find most useful is Professor of Economics Richard D. Wolff. [kpfa.org]
-- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 4, Funny) by kazzie on Wednesday July 26 2017, @10:42AM
In 2012, the UK government relaxed Sunday trading restrictions for shops larger than 280m^2 for two months while the Olympics were held in London. The directors of the book shop chain that I worked in seemed to suddenly realise that there were never any restrictions on smaller shops (which included most of our branches). That Christmas they instructed all relevant branches to open an hour early every Sunday in December.
We knew at our branch that we wouldn't see any extra custom, as all other shops nearby still opened at the usual time. So our Sunday staff were instructed to arrive just in time for the "new" opening hour, immediately activate the tills, but keep the doors locked. They then had nearly a whole hour to tidy and merchandise without needing to keep the shop floor manned, and only brought till floats out just before the usual opening time. Head office could check that we were "open" from the till logs, but we of course had no transactions in that first hour. The next year, the idea of opening early on Sundays was quietly dropped.
(Score: 2) by LoRdTAW on Wednesday July 26 2017, @02:49PM (3 children)
Sounds like you were at fault for not checking your tank prior to a cookout. Always check ahead of time and keep a spare.
(Score: 2) by Osamabobama on Wednesday July 26 2017, @07:22PM (2 children)
Now that blame has been properly attributed, we can get back to discussion of the appropriate organization to decide whether a store is open on certain days.
Appended to the end of comments you post. Max: 120 chars.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by LoRdTAW on Wednesday July 26 2017, @08:42PM (1 child)
My point probably wasn't as clear as I wanted it to be. But the idea is that he went to walmart on a national holiday and bought propane from people who don't want to be there. He supported walmart's greed. If he planned ahead, he would have found that his tank was nearly empty and would not have needed to support said greed. I know it sounds a bit overblown but that's exactly the kind of excuse walmart relies on to keep a store open on a national holiday and fuck over their employees.
"Forgot the paper plates? We got you! Just come to one of our many slave operated warehouses where we use all sorts of underhanded labor practices to ensure you idiots can purchase paper plates on a national holiday"
(Score: 2) by Osamabobama on Thursday July 27 2017, @04:26PM
There was once a time when overtime pay was 'time-and-a-half' and holidays and Sundays were 'double time.' I'm sure that was never universal, but it was probably a good way to honor holidays and compensate people who are pressured (coerced? forced?) into working on those days or for long hours.
In order to re-implement such a system, there would need to be a broad base of support in the local population and a group with enough negotiating power to make that happen, such as a union or government. If government fills that role, the issue will get handled with sweeping policy that will also affect people who disagree. If it's a union, the affected group is smaller. Ideally, each person would get to name their price for working on a holiday, of course, but there are two sides to any employment agreement.
More broadly, what do we want out of a national holiday? Does it have to be a synchronous day off across the community, or is it good enough to have a day off at the same time as your family or preferred social group? If there's a festival or parade, that would lend weight to the former. If it's a weekly holy day, do non-believers have to participate?
Appended to the end of comments you post. Max: 120 chars.
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 26 2017, @04:42AM (1 child)
You're talking about the part of Europe where unions are strong (France, Germany) and where Democracy hasn't completely failed yet (add Scandinavia).
There's also a hotbed of very successful Socialists in northern Italy. [google.com]
...then, in contrast, there's Portugal, Ireland, Crete, Greece... [wikipedia.org]
(Austerity sucks--and it -never- accomplishes its stated goal.)
-- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 26 2017, @11:24AM
s/Crete/Cyprus
(Old guy's brain fart.)
-- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 3, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 26 2017, @01:49AM
Rejecting corporate slavery is archaic?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 26 2017, @04:43AM (3 children)
You must be younger than me. Everything was closed on Sundays in Youngstown until the Hill's Department Store in the Boardman Plaza decided to open on Sundays around 1960. The religious types were outraged, but most of us were thrilled. The other stores soon followed suit.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday July 26 2017, @02:51PM (2 children)
Well, my age is right up there in my nick - I was born in 1956. In 1960, I was preoccupied with tricycles and such, looking forward to my first two-wheel bicycle. ;^)
Let me try to find a more exact location of this shopping center. It's been a long, long time since I lived up there . . .
Coming from Pa. toward Youngstown on US 422, it seems that we went past the Coitsville-Hubbard road, and the shopping center would have been in the curve after passing Lamar Ave, on the north side of the highway. About half the stores were usually closed on Sunday, but there was a HUGE discount store, a medium-large grocery store (Maybe an A&P, maybe a Giant Eagle, not sure.) and a restaurant, a couple of smaller businesses. The reason for going to this shopping center was the discount store, most often. Did I mention that it was huge? It was probably the single largest store I had ever been in, up until my high school days. Tools, toys, some clothing, more tools, some limited lumberyard supplies, electrical and plumbing stuff. We pretty much stopped making that little trip when a similar discount center opened in our hometown.
Memory is fuzzy now, but there were a lot of other shops and businesses that were closed on Sundays, but the discount store was ready to do business. I have zero idea how they were open, if the law kept other places closed. At that point in my life, I was hardly aware of the law.
It seems that most or all of our visits to that shopping center were between the years of '68 and '71. I don't know if that has any meaning, regarding Ohio and/or city/county laws regarding Sunday business.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 27 2017, @08:37AM (1 child)
There, there, Runaway! Not to worry! It will all be over soon. And then no Soylentils will have to read your fading memories of your personal experiences decades ago that have nothing to do with the current conflict in the EU over Greek laws.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 27 2017, @01:54PM
"nothing to do with the current conflict in the EU over Greek laws"
If you weren't so narrow minded, and suffering from tunnel vision, you might understand that Ohio laws and customs were similar to the same laws and customs being debated in Greece today. That is, they were/are all based on religious obligations.
What is this love/hate thing you have going on with Runaway? Are you gay? Just tell Runaway that you want him to be your rumpriding roughrider. FFS, stop beating around the bush!
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 26 2017, @06:20AM (3 children)
Ah, regaled we all are, by the lore of the young Runaway1956! Yes! His experience in the hillbilly backwaters of the United States of Dumbfuckitstan are totally relevant to the current situtation of Greece facing up to the coersion of the European Union! Runaway, I hope you are regulated out of your fucking job, required to work on specific days of the week, and legally barred from forming a group to address greiviences with an employer! I hope you are fucked up the ass by your boss, but then, from what I have read here, you already have been. Take away: nobody cares what you think, or what you went through as a kid, Runaway. We just do not want you to vote in the next presidential election, since you are not too bright.
(Score: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 26 2017, @02:54PM (2 children)
Poor AC, such a little nobody, who has no stories of life to tell. And, he's so jealous of anyone who does.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 26 2017, @10:39PM (1 child)
That's not AC, it's aristarchus posting AC, you can tell by the way nearly every pussy of his starts the same, is content-free, and makes you forget about the trump supporting nonsense you should have been replying to because aristarchus' nonsense is so much more retarded.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday July 27 2017, @08:41AM
No, it's not aristarchus, it is every sane soylentil crying out in horror at yet another Runaway post that has nothing to do with anything! Did I tell you about the time I drove a truck to New York City? Place was full of urban youth. And I had to pass through Bowling Green. There was a massacre, you know.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 26 2017, @11:29PM
I gather the idea is to improve the economy? This won't do it. Now stores must spend more to keep the lights on. Little more would be bought; the extra Sunday purchases will come out of Saturday and Monday.
Fixing the economy is easy except for politics:
Stop the pervasive tax evasion. Raise retirement age to 80. Kill the minimum wage. Drop various regulations (environment, worker safety, etc.) down to the bare minimum the EU requires. Make it trivial to create and destroy businesses. (destruction must be easy to encourage investors) Make it trivial to hire and fire employees. (firing must be easy to encourage hiring) Give the unproductive people 1-way tickets to other EU countries. Pressure unproductive people into accepting nitrogen asphyxiation. Prohibit citizens from getting expensive (time or materials) low-productivity education. Do like Israel with the refugees: use every excuse to say "no", and put the rest in miserable camps so that nobody will want to come. For the long-term, force everything and everybody to be English language.
There, that was easy. Let the howling begin.
(Score: 2) by KritonK on Thursday July 27 2017, @11:03AM
There are serious problems with this submission:
Although I live in Greece, I don't bother following these developments, as there are weirder and weirder laws that are being passed all the time, which the people who propose them have no real intention of putting into effect, unless they have something to do with novel ways to increase taxation. As the first article in the link in the summary suggests, there apparently was a law about allowing work on Sundays, but it was struck down as unconstitutional six months ago.
Thus, I would say that the summary is poorly documented and is not really news.