Erfurt (dpa/th) – The Verdi union wants to close shops in Thuringia in winter at 7 p.m. in view of skyrocketing energy prices. The trade union had to limit the opening times, at least temporarily, to 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., the union said in an open letter to the parliamentary groups in the Thuringian state parliament in Erfurt on Saturday. “This could make an effective contribution to saving energy during the dark months of the year,” says the joint resolution of the Thuringia Retail Department Board, the Thuringia Retail Tariff Committee and the Thuringia Wholesale Tariff Committee. The measures currently under discussion, no longer illuminating advertising signs and pylons in the retail sector, are not enough.
The union’s proposal is not new. Verdi has been advocating limited opening hours not just since the energy crisis. For years, employees have been criticizing “the overstretched extension of shop opening hours in view of the tense personnel situation in many companies and the increasing burden on employees,” it said. The vast majority of employees in retail are behind such a change.
From Verdi’s point of view, a loss of sales is not to be expected due to limited opening hours. “In fact, sales would be shifted somewhat in time, especially since most shops are hardly frequented by customers late in the evening anyway.”
