Today, at 11am on the 11th of the 11th, as we pause to remember the moment peace was restored and the sacrifice of so many in a war that ended more than 100 years ago, we intone the immortal words: Lest We Forget.
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I'm not too sure how many will pause at 11am this year. As a society, we are very good at forgetting. And not just about war.
So much of what makes us Australian has been consigned to the winds of history, and it is the absence of ceremony, as much as the commemoration, that will be telling.
There was a time when Australians would also pause and remember achieving the eight-hour working day, which for many on-call for additional shifts through work apps or tied to work emails may seem a world away now.
The development of our industrial democracy was one of the driving stories of Australia's federation - we were the first nation to secure the eight-hour day.
Our industrial relations system underpinned our quality of life, with clear demarcations created between the times for work, rest and play.
I've been thinking about these two lines of history because my union, the union for shop and warehouse workers, the SDA, has been struggling against the commercialisation of some of our last national days of shared community time.
In recent years, our members in retail and fast food have lost shared time to spend two days with their families on Christmas and Boxing Day as retailers have pushed to extend trading hours just to start the traditional post-Christmas sales a day earlier on Boxing Day, cutting family time and precious rest time short for shop workers rushed off their feet in the lead up to Christmas.
In the lead up to Remembrance Day, many of our members have expressed their concern that the other more significant day that we should all stop to mark the sacrifices of our service men and women - Anzac Day - has gradually been undermined.
We used to close shops all day on Anzac Day to stop as a community to remember the sacrifices of our veterans, as well as the contribution of our current men and women in the armed forces. But at some stage, retailers pushed for 'business as usual' on Anzac Day and so now shops only close for half a day in the ACT and NSW, and the remembrance is pushed aside at 1pm as the shop doors are thrown open again in pursuit of profit.
Representatives of the SDA from workplaces in the ACT and across NSW came together this week and heard the stories of veterans who were retail workers or their relatives. These are the often unseen veterans of more recent conflicts who we risk not properly remembering when we rush back to work and shopping on Anzac Day afternoon.
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Rebecca most weeks is a retail worker behind a checkout. She is also an army reservist who told of her service, including five tours to East Timor, Iraq and Afghanistan, and why closing the shops for a whole day would mean so much to her.
Sharon, whose daughter and son-in-law are in the armed forces, with her son-in-law having served in Afghanistan, spoke of the pressure to return to work when the shop doors opened at 1pm on Anzac Day and her sense of betraying her family when she works. If the shop closed all day, there would be no unfair pressure to work the day.
Our members want shops to close all day on Anzac Day. As the ode says - "At the going down of the sun AND in the morning, we will remember them" - not just the morning.
It is heartening to know the vast majority of Australians - about 90 per cent according to new polling by Essential Research - see Anzac Day as a day of cultural and historical significance for the country.
Commemorations of Anzac Day look different for every Australian; some go to dawn services, other to the parades that are held in towns and cities across the nation, others say they simply pause in memory of a great-grandfather or uncle in a faded photograph.
What's telling is that, when asked how they like to spend Anzac Day, no one says 'by going shopping'.
Why do we continue to keep retail outlets and supermarkets open every April 25?
The chance not only to participate in a day of national significance, but to take the time to remember, shouldn't be a privilege afforded to a select Australians only.
Retail workers deserve to be included in this national moment of reflection.
The NSW and ACT governments should amend legislation to close shops all day on Anzac Day again.
Anzac Day is for remembering, not shopping.
- Bernie Smith is the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees' Association NSW and ACT branch secretary.
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