My submission to the NSW Review of Retail Trading, 24 October 2011:
Dear Executive Director,
The Baptist Union of NSW welcomes the current Review into Shop Trading Provisions of the Retail Trading Act 2008 and the associated Discussion Paper released in September 2011. I have been invited to prepare a submission to the NSW review, noting that there is a wider federal inquiry underway into the implications of globalisation for the retail industry and related matters.
Baptists affirm the Bible as the supreme authority for faith and conduct. Our response to questions relating to workplace relations in general, and restricted trading days in particular, is guided by the following principles (among others):
(a) All persons are created in the image of God and must therefore be treated with dignity and respect, including in the workplace.
(b) Workers are not to be considered as merely instrumental in the production of goods and services.
(c) Workers must accept their just responsibilities toward their employers, and employers must recognise the just rights and entitlements of the worker.
(d) Work done should be justly remunerated.
(e) Workers have a right to adequate rest from their employment, especially on Sundays as the biblically sanctioned regular day of rest.
(f) A healthy work-life balance delivers benefits to workers, their families, their employers and the whole community and employers should take care not to impose responsibilities on their employees which lead to a deterioration in work-life balance.
The Baptist Union of NSW cautions against any reduction in the numbers of restricted trading days under s4 of the Retail Trading Act 2008, and welcomes the Minister’s intention to ensure that there is no reduction to the current number of public holidays in NSW. We oppose the widening of exemption categories and circumstances for the benefit of employers and shareholders at the expense of employees.
With respect to the questions in the Discussion Paper (page 10), we believe the current restrictions should be retained in NSW in order to support a healthy work-life balance and to permit workers to attend, and serve as volunteers, in religious services held on restricted trading days. We do not believe that the number of restricted trading days should be reduced.
We would encourage the Minister to retain and strengthen the Department’s support of the existing restrictions because the state has a responsibility to serve and protect the interests of its citizens with respect to employment conditions and entitlements. These are easily eroded or removed by commercial and corporate pressures, and once reduced are difficult to reinstate.
With respect to restrictions imposed on retail liquor shops on restricted retail trading days, the Baptist Union of NSW supports the retention of the strongest restrictions on the grounds of public health and concerns relating to family violence resulting from excessive alcohol consumption.
Yours sincerely,
Rev Rod Benson, Ethicist and Public Theologian, Baptist Union of NSW
