The Working Consumers of Greece (EEKE) is urging consumers to avoid shopping on Sundays as part of a broader effort to restore balance in the retail sector and protect workers’ rights.
The decision to allow stores to open on Sundays has consistently caused an uproar among small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as well as larger supermarket chains.
A law permitting shops to open on all Sundays of the year came into effect in 2021. Previously, only designated Sundays throughout the year were exempt from restrictions on store openings.
Labor unions and retail trade bodies have since 2014 expressed their opposition to Sunday openings, arguing that the practice imposes additional costs on businesses and violates basic workers’ rights.
The move to keep shops open every Sunday was introduced under pressure from Greece’s international lenders as part of the country’s debt relief agreement.
EEKE has publicly expressed its opposition to this law, releasing a statement aimed at encouraging consumers to refrain from Sunday shopping. The organization emphasized that consumers should “use the only weapon they have in their hands: the power of choice”.
According to EEKE, the opening of stores on Sundays creates conditions that favor monopolistic practices, undermining healthy competition and inevitably driving many small and medium-sized businesses to closure.
Additionally, EEKE argued that Sunday openings disrupt personal and family life, violating fundamental labor rights that are both constitutionally guaranteed and the result of hard-fought battles by workers.
In its statement, the Union is urging consumers to support businesses that remain closed on Sundays. Their campaign slogan reads: “Sunday Closed! I Don’t Shop – I Don’t Work!”
