The government finds itself in a quandary over what to do about Easter Saturday. The problem is that this year May Day, on which all shops stay closed by law, coincides with Easter Saturday, a day on which people traditionally do their food shopping for the long weekend.

Labour minister Zeta Emilianidou said a few days ago there was no possibility of shops opening on Easter Saturday this year, citing the May Day law, a point also made by other officials. Inevitably there has been a reaction from retailers, especially supermarkets for which Easter Saturday business is probably the best of the year. Butchers have also complained as Easter is year’s big meat-fest and they may fear that they would lose custom to supermarkets if they are not open on the Saturday.

Protests are planned by retailers as a way of pressuring the government to make an exception. This is not so easy as closed shops on May 1 is stipulated by law, which the government cannot suspend on public demand to satisfy the supermarkets. While it could be said that this big shopping day was eagerly awaited by retailers, ravaged by lockdowns, it is not an argument that holds for supermarkets, the only businesses that have been unaffected by the government restrictions. They probably have seen revenue increase since the outbreak of the pandemic, as they stayed open through all the restrictions and were the only establishments people could spend money in.

Will it be such a disaster for the retail sector if the shops stayed closed on Easter Saturday? Surely people can just plan their shopping a bit better and do it over Holy Week. There is an added problem in that Good Friday, the day before May 1 is also a public holiday, even though most shops will probably be open, giving the people on holiday the opportunity to do their big food shop a day earlier than usual.

It remains unclear what the government will do. Another option would be to move the May 1 holiday to another day as has happened when it falls on a Sunday (next year this will happen), but that would mean another working day would have to be sacrificed. It is also questionable whether the union bosses, who wield great power, would consent to shopworkers being obliged to work on Labour Day, which is what supermarkets are demanding, when for once their Easter weekend would include having Easter Saturday off as well?