We had a ridiculous situation last weekend.

On Friday, when it became clear that the government was not giving in to the pressure made by the Chamber of Small and Medium Enterprises for shops to be allowed to open on 1 May, we had several of them putting up the notice – closed tomorrow (Saturday), but open on Sunday.

A quick drive around on Saturday however showed that many establishments were open for the day – whether they paid a fee or risked being booked is not known. What is sure, however, is that some form of permanent agreement should be reached so as to avoid having a repetition of the dispute when the situation arises again.

It is clear that the government acted the way it did to protect workers. And maybe it did not want to irk the Opposition, which might have reacted badly if the government had given the green light for shops to open, given that the Labour Party was holding a mass demonstration to celebrate Worker’s Day.

But, in this day and age, should shops remain closed on Sundays and public holidays?

Go to any city in Europe and you will see that all the shops are open on Sundays and public holidays. They might open later and/or close earlier than usual, but they do open. In Malta, this is still not happening, and anyone who goes to commercial centres on a Sunday morning can see the dismay on the faces of tourists who expect shops to be open, and yet find them closed.

Here, some shops in the food business do have a special licence that enables them to open on Sundays and public holidays. Today, it is easy to find groceries and supermarkets that are open on these days.

Other kinds of shops are allowed to open on what are considered as special occasions, such as 8 and 13 December, at a time when sales increase because of the season, and there are a few that even open on Christmas Day.

So what was wrong with opening on 1 May?

With so many families now having both partners in a job, most of the errands are carried out in one big rush on a Saturday morning. These people were unable to do so last weekend, and some are known to have taken a couple of hours off from work to do their shopping on Friday afternoon.

The government is all for a free market and liberalisation, and perhaps this concept should be extended to this situation as well. Shop owners should be allowed to be the ones to decide whether to open or not on a public holiday. They should be free to do so, depending on their location, kind of business and type of holiday, without having to seek special permission or risk paying a fine for being caught open.

There is another side of the coin, and this is the responsibility that shop owners have towards their employees. All workers are entitled to days off and this must be respected. Likewise, if they are working more hours or are asked to work on public holidays, they should be paid extra for their work. And, if these workers refuse to work extra, they should not be forced to do so or threatened in any way.

Just as much as the GRTU does well in safeguarding the interests of the members it represents, it should also insist with them that they have a responsibility towards the workers they employ.