Jesus said
"The Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath"
Mark 2 v 27
GARDEN CENTRES CHALLENGE THE LAW
On Easter Sunday, Britain’s largest garden centre chain, which includes Wyevale and Blooms, decided to challenge the law by inviting customers into their 73 stores.
The 1994 Sunday Trading Act clearly states that on Easter Sunday and Christmas day, ‘Large shops shall not be open for the serving of retail customers.’
Customers will be able to take advice from staff and examine goods as well as visit their cafés for refreshments.
The campaign by the chain will test the sixteen-year-old Sunday Trading laws. If stores break the Act, a fine of up to £50,000 can be imposed upon them.
Although customers will not be able to purchase goods, lawyers feel the firm may be pushing the law beyond the limit.
The Chief Executive of the Garden Centre Group, Nicholas Marshall, believes that the 892,000 members of its ‘garden club’ are within the law by visiting the garden centres as long as they do not purchase goods. However, retail lawyers believe that by speaking to staff, and seeking their advice, they are serving customers, a contravention of the law.
It is interesting to note that rivals such as B & Q and Homebase refused to comment, but stated that they will be closed on Easter Sunday.
Here is yet another attempt to find a way round the law, at the expense of thousands of staff being deprived of a day with their families.
Environmental Health Officers in each of the local authorities where the garden centres are opened will consider the action to be taken.
A Chariots of Fire-style drama is unfolding in Western Australia, where a winery owner refuses to open on Sundays because of his belief in God.
Spike Fokkema, who owns and operates the acclaimed Churchview Estate winery in Margaret River, shuts up shop on one of the wine trade’s most lucrative days of the week because ‘God is wise and He said we’re not meant to work seven days.’
It has all the hallmarks of the 1981 film Chariots of Fire, which tells the story of devout Christian Eric Liddell, who refused to run the 100m sprint at the 1924 Paris Olympics because the race fell on a Sunday.
Similarly Mr Fokkema, 66, said he refused to trade on Sundays, preferring to be together with friends and family and attend the Free Reformed Church in Busselton with his wife, Lanie.
The award-winning winery owner, a father of five with 23 grandchildren, said he would probably earn about $2,000 in wine sales if he stayed open on Sundays.
‘For me, the money is not a factor, not at all,’ said Mr Fokkema, a former City of Armadale mayor. ‘We could open on Sunday and be very busy, but it’s a matter of being faithful to who we are. Taking the day off is more valuable for our family life and our peace of mind. God said it’s no good to work seven days. God knows we need rest.’
‘MAKE SUNDAY A DAY OF REST,’ SAY EURO-MPs
As we began to prepare this issue of Day One, we were informed that Euro MPs want to make Sunday a legal day of rest. EU chiefs are drawing up new rules for working hours under a review of the Working Time Directive.
So far hundreds of Euro MPs have signed an appeal to the European Commission to consider ‘work-free Sundays’. They say that banning work would boost family life and health. They also claim that staff working on Sundays are more likely to go sick.
They also argue that because EU institutions close for business on Sunday, EU citizens should not have to work either.
If this became law, it would mean that shops would shut and only workers, such as hospital staff, police and fire-fighters, would be allowed to work.
Supporters of this proposal believe that such a step is important, particularly for protecting those with religious beliefs.