WORK SUNDAYS IS ALSO QUESTION OF ORGANISING WORK - CROATIAN PRESIDENT

ZAGREB, Dec 19 (Hina) - Croatian President Stjepan Mesic said on Friday the ban prohibiting stores from working Sundays should not apply to every store, that this issue was excessively politicised, and that it was a question of organising work.#L# Asked for a comment on International Monetary Fund (IMF) Mission to Croatia chief Hans Flickenschild's statement that the IMF was against the ban, Mesic said there were businesses where continuity needed to be maintained and where production could not be discontinued. He added, however, that employees working Sunday shifts should be paid adequately and that there should be rotations. "It's a question of organising work. I think this problem is being excessively politicised and that it can be solved through good organisation." Mesic said that not all businesses should or could be banned on Sunday, that not even the Church was asking that, but added there were businesses which did not need to work Sundays. Under the new Trade Act, which goes into force on January 1, there are new regulations for working on Sundays. The new provisions ban stores whose premises exceed 200 square metres from being open on Sundays. IMF Mission chief Flickenschild said earlier this week the IMF was against the ban, which it felt would undermine free market competition, introduce distinctions amongst businesses, might increase unemployment, reduce revenue, sales, and ultimately GDP. He said the IMF advised the incoming government against applying the Trade Act. Flickenschild's statement met with numerous reactions, from Caritas Croatia, the Franciscan Institute for the Culture of Peace, a number of trade unions, and the Trade Guild of the Croatian Chamber of Crafts and Trades. They called for the signing of a petition to ban stores from being open Sundays. (Hina) ha sb