by Peter Eddington, Darris McNeely, Cecil Maranville and John Ross Schroeder
Berlin Store Fined for Skirting Sunday
Restrictions
A Berlin department store that tested Germany's strict shopping
laws by opening on Sunday drew tens of thousands of excited shoppers-and a
$27,000 fine.
The Berlin Office of Workers' Protection
said Monday it would fine Kaufhof, a large store on Alexanderplatz
in eastern Berlin, that tried to get around the law by labeling everything
sold as souvenirs. German laws that prevent businesses from opening
on Sunday allow exceptions for those catering to tourists. Store officials
said they would appeal the fine.
About 50,000 shoppers flocked to the Kaufhof
on Sunday, buying goods ranging from clothing to appliances labeled
with stickers reading, "Berlin Souvenir." The store will face a fine
of up to $54,500 if it tries to open this Sunday, said Robert Rath,
the worker protection agency's spokesman. Officials may also order
the store closed if it continues, he said.
Unions, churches and local government heads
oppose the push for Sunday shopping, arguing it is unnecessary and
unfair to workers. If Sunday becomes a day like all the others, "then
there will be no common time for families to be together with friends
who are still at work," Margret Moenig-Raane, president of the Trade,
Banking and Insurance Union, told Deutschlandradio Berlin.
Anglo-American Trends
Against Marriage
According to the latest issue of British Population
Trends, married couples will constitute a minority of the population
before 2010. Back in 1981, 65 percent of adults were married. By
1997, 23 percent fewer marriages were contracted. By contrast the
rates of growth in cohabitation and illegitimate children have been
enormous.
