(28 Aug 2022, 6:12 pm)Adrian wrote I agree. The vast majority of Mon-Fri business operations don't operate on a bank holiday, and they tend to run on a skeleton staffing, if at all.
If the service needs to be provided, then they shouldn't be relying on volunteers. It should be a normal working day, with the bank holiday rolled up into leave entitlement, like a lot of other industries do.
Blue light services are often cited as the example of those that work around the clock, but really the list is far greater than that; power generation, water, telecoms, broadcast, IT & network engineers, retail & hospitality, and even the security industry. They all likely want the day/night off, but you can't have a complete shutdown of the country every bank holiday or weekend.
It's not about forcing anyone to do anything, but as a service provider, you need to meet the needs of those who want to use the service.
I'm sure getting that past a TU, without other significant compromises from operators, will be a breeze.
I fully support BH services being better than what they currently are, but realistically it's going to be quite difficult - even just thinking about agreements for BH working.