Advocates call for EU to declare common ‘day of rest’

By Junno Arocho Esteves | Catholic News Service

ROME (CNS) — A network of civil and religious organizations are hoping that European leaders will follow God’s lead in the Book of Genesis and declare a weekly day of rest.

In a statement published March 3, the European Sunday Alliance network called on political leaders to establish a “European weekly common day of rest,” preferably on Sunday, since that traditionally was the common day off in Europe.

“In order to prevent a work environment that compromises the health and well-being of workers, it is crucial to ensure a right to disconnect, during the week but also during the weekend, with a work-free day,” the network said.

“A full day of rest per week is indispensable to recover and to ensure both a better well-being and a better productivity of workers,” it said.

Angelika Steciak is pictured tending to her children at their home in Rembieszyce, Poland, in this July 11, 2021, file photo. In a statement released March 3, the European Sunday Alliance network called on political leaders to establish Sunday as a “European weekly common day of rest.” (CNS photo/Maciej Maziarka, Knights of Columbus)

Founded in 2011, the European Sunday Alliance raises “awareness of the unique value of synchronized free time for our European societies,” according to its website.

Among its members are the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union, the Protestant Church in Germany and the European Confederation of Independent Trade Unions.

In its statement, the alliance said that “the rise of teleworking and the fragmentation of working time” due to the COVID-19 pandemic had proven “detrimental to the work-life balance of workers.”

The pandemic, it added, also highlighted the issue of loneliness and how for many men and women “a common work-free day enables families to spend time together, children with parents and grandparents, who are the first ones to suffer from loneliness.”

The European Sunday Alliance said that a work-free day also “makes it also possible to pursue volunteer work, civic engagement, joint social, sports or faith-related activities, and, more generally, to strengthen the social cohesion of our communities.”

“Work-life balance, as well as healthy, safe and well-adapted work environments, are at the heart of the European Pillar of Social Rights, which all EU institutions and member states’ governments have committed to implement,” it said.

Author: Catholic News Service

Catholic News Service is the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ news and information service.

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