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German shops will remain closed on Sundays. In a decision last week, the country's high court established that the legal restrictions on shop opening hours are constitutional. Metro's department store chain Kaufhof had challenged the law, saying that it violates their property rights, and puts them at disadvantage in competition with petrol stations, and stores at railway stations.

Ulrich Dalibor, head of ver.di's retail sector, has a good reason to raise his glass. The German high court has now confirmed that it is the constitutional right of the state to protect people's employment and working conditions. This weighs more than corporate interests, at least when it comes to Germany's shop opening law. Our picture is, however, from an earlier occasion - a UNI-Europa Commerce conference on Lidl in April, where defending workers rights to organise in trade unions and to pursue their interests was in focus.

The constitutional court in Karlsruhe has now established that it is indeed acceptable to protect workers' rights through legislation, and that this weighs stronger than the economic interests put forward by Kaufhof. The particularly strong wording by an unanimous court on the constitutional right of the state to protect workers' rights to free Sundays and bank holidays will probably put an end to attempts to introduce Sunday trading in Germany.

But also late night trading is now closed out. The high court closed out major changes to the existing legislation, which calls for shops to close their doors at 20.00 hours on weekday nights. Any changes could only be done by the German states, on the condition that the federal parliament cedes this authority to them. As of now, the present shop opening legislation continues to be the law of the land.

Ulrich Dalibor, head of ver.di's retail trade sector, welcomed the decision of the constitutional court. - This has confirmed that workers' rights can be protected by legislation, he said, and that they can weigh stronger than economic business interests.

Jörgen Hoppe, president of UNI-Europa Commerce, sees also a broader European dimension in the German court decision. - Our members' right to decent working hours are under attack in many parts of Europe. This decision supports our fight for reasonable shop opening regulations, which allow workers to live normal family lives.