Shops forced to close 1 hour earlier on Saturdays

(ADW) The 'honeymoon' period is over. As of July this year, shops in Luxembourg will close at 7pm on Saturdays – one hour earlier than the current time of 8pm. The Minister of Middle Classes, Françoise Hetto-Gaasch took the decision on Tuesday evening after a "last chance of negotiations" between employers and unions failed.

Originally it was the target of the government, to generally extend opening hours on Saturday to 8pm, as is the current situation, in a test period until the end of June this year. Having spent many hours attempting to talk to retail employers and trade unions with the aim of finding a solution as of July, minister Hetto-Gaasch has finally given up and cancelled negotiations. The announcement was made on Tuesday evening.

The minister is now stuck in a middle ground between the positions of employers and those of trade unions. The main sticking point is the union demands for an increase of 50 percent hourly wage rate for workers from 6pm to 8pm. The result now is a shop closing time of 7pm on Saturdays. The same time applies to working days preceding a holiday.

The opening times on other days remain as they are, until 8pm. For one day a week retailers are allowed to open until 9pm.

What do you think? Will this affect you? Are unions being too greedy? Does this affect Luxembourg’s competitively with countries just over the border with longer opening times? Let us know below: