### Here comes Ryszard Petru’s statement. ###
Today, MP Ryszard Petru works in one of Biedronka’s discount stores in Warsaw. In his opinion, it is a gesture intended to open a discussion about the importance of all work.
Petru is against the establishment Christmas Eve is a day off from work. Recently, when a debate on the bill on this matter submitted by the Left was taking place in Poland, Petru announced that he intended to spend this year’s Christmas Eve at work. And not in the Sejm, but at the store checkout.
Petru works at Biedronka
On Friday, Petru announced on the X website that he had signed a contract with one of the Warsaw discount stores. On Monday, he clarified that it was a store Ladybugs.
The Biedronka press office told PAP on Tuesday morning that Petru will work in shop at ul. Pałacowa 2.In the morning, the MP started reporting on his work on X. First he posted a photo from the employees’ room, then – how he operates the bread oven. “I start by baking bread,” he wrote.
“I’ll make it more practical”
The politician told a Polsat News journalist that he had been at work since 6.15. “Many politicians come to the bakery in the morning and watch how bread is baked. Well, I will do it more practically for eight hours (work – PAP),” Petru said, explaining why he took up work on Christmas Eve. “Of course, anyone can say that eight hours is not a month, but eight hours is not fifteen minutes either,” he added.
Earlier in a video posted on social media envoy he explained that he intended to work like any other cashier, including, among others, put out the goods and help clean the store after work. Petru also announced that he would donate the clothes he received from his employer to the auction of the Great Orchestra of Christmas Charity.
“A gesture intended to open a discussion”
He also talked about the details of his work in an interview with Radio Zet on Monday. He argued that he decided to take such a step because it is “a gesture that is intended to open a discussion about the fact that all work is important.” “I’m doing it because I was asked if I could, it’s a way of showing that I’m capable,” he added. “It’s not about politics, but real experience,” he declared. This year Christmas Eve is still a business day for trading until 14.00.
The Act on a Free Christmas Eve has been passed
At the end of November Sejm passed the Act on a Free Christmas Eve – an amendment to the Act on Restriction of Trade on Sundays and Holidays, the draft of which was submitted by the Left. However, in the final version, which gained the support of the entire ruling coalition, it assumes that December 24 will be a day off from work only from 2025.
Ultimately, the act contains one more important change that was not included in the Left’s bill. From next year, not two, but a three Sundays before Christmas Eve are to be commercial. This solution was criticized by employee circles.
Senators proposed an amendment that a specific trade employee could not work on more than two Sundays in December, and at the beginning of December the Sejm adopted the amendment. The Polish 2050 club also voted for the amendment, and previously for the entire act introducing Christmas Eve from work, including Ryszard Petru. The act is still waiting for President Andrzej Duda’s decision.
