Sunday Opening in Vienna Retail a Topic Again
The President of the Vienna Chamber of Commerce, Walter Ruck, advocates for Sunday opening in the capital city's retail sector. As reported by the "Kronen Zeitung" on Saturday, he refers to a survey indicating that primarily foreign tourists would take advantage of this, which would not cause a shift but rather bring additional revenue. The union GPA immediately rejected the idea.
Ruck Wants to See Sunday Opening in Vienna
"Vienna is considered a particularly livable world city, let's allow foreign guests to enjoy that. However, traders should have the freedom to open on Sundays," Ruck stated. He argued that the time is ripe for this, and the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 is an additional incentive, justifying his initiative in the long-stalled debate.
Ruck dismissed the criticism that employees would have to work excessively: "There are collective agreements with correspondingly higher payments and a time frame, I don't understand why businesses shouldn't be allowed to make these sales, it's a shame for every euro not spent in times like these. It's about additional revenue that everyone could benefit from."
"Large Chains Benefit Most from Sunday Opening"
The union rejected this. 95 percent of retail employees are strongly opposed to Sunday work, said Mario Ferrari, federal manager and head of collective bargaining for the GPA union, citing a survey. "If Vienna is to remain the most livable city, perhaps we should start with the over 100,000 retail employees who would be affected by such proposals, rather than the wishes of tourists," he explained in a statement.
"Sunday work on the backs of employees will not happen with us," Ferrari reaffirmed. Because voluntariness is a pure illusion when it comes to Sunday opening. The job is already very demanding, and it would mainly affect women. Economically, the benefit is also questionable, according to the unionist: "Large chains benefit most from Sunday opening. For smaller businesses, it means higher costs without guaranteed additional income."
(APA/Red)
This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.