This is an idea that I've been thinking about for a few months now. I thought I would write something up about it before I start a public Facebook page for discussion and accountability purposes. Let me know what you think!
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| Work, Buy, Consume, Die |
Sabbatical Sundays
Imagine it’s nine in the morning on Boxing Day. The consumer
capitals of our major cities are preparing for the rush of shoppers seeking a
bargain. Blurry-eyed retail staff, still recovering from the lead-up to
Christmas awaken early. Some of them cancelled plans to attend Christmas dinner
with their families the night before knowing that the security of their
employment depended upon their availability during the ‘Christmas black-out
period’.
But this year, when the shops open from eight in the
morning, something is different. You’re nowhere to be found. Not just you, but
several of your friends who once flocked to the sales and battled for car parks
have made a conscious decision. This year you decide to put yourself in the
shoes of the retail staff. You decide that time spent with family and friends
is more sacred than your shopping. This year, your shopping can wait.
Sabbatical Sundays is the meeting place for a movement of
people who are concerned about how 24/7 trade effects things more important
than consumables. This is a movement of people who understand that the
conditions of employment for many workers in service-related industries are not
what they would choose if they had greater influence over their terms of
employment. These are not the conditions we would choose if we were employed in
service-related industries.
There are several reasons why one may want to consider the
effects of demanding 24/7 labour. It might be because you are concerned with
the effects that this kind of trade has on the people working in the industry.
It might be because you are concerned with the ever-increasing power of
multi-national corporations and how 24/7 trade makes it more difficult for
small-scale businesses to break into the market. It may be because you believe
that time spent with family is more important than corporate profits. It might
be because you believe that 24/7 trade is incompatible with your religious or
family values. There are many reasons why you may want to consider what labour
you demand and when you demand it – this is a place where people with different
drivers can come together under the same idea.
While a sabbath or sabbatical, considered to be a time of
rest or worship, could be observed for any stretch of time on any given day,
month, or year, this idea specifically related to Sunday labour. If there is
one day of the week that could be won back, one day of the week that some
consider holy, or one day of the week that families and communities gather
together to appreciate what is really important about our existence, that day
is Sunday.
This movement, however, also believes that 24 hour trade is
not a necessity and that to drop into a fast-food joint at two in the morning
demands a kind of labour that no one should be asked to provide. This kind of
out-of-hours luxury labour is drastically different to requiring emergency
services. It is inevitable that people working in the emergency services sector
will be required to work unusual hours. The same cannot be said for fast-food
and retail outlets. For their services, we can wait until morning.
From these thoughts has sprung the idea and movement that
has long existed yet feels buried: Sabbatical Sundays.
