Sverdlovsk Region trade unions used the court mechanisms to make the local employers stick to a 36-hour working week for the trade industry, the press service of Sverdlovsk Region Federation of Trade Unions reports.

‘Under Sverdlovsk Region Court’s ruling, METRO Cash & Carry will have to switch to a 36-hour working week for its employees, and offer them a 4% rise and seven extra days of paid holiday a year. This ruling actually sets a precedent, because it makes the employers at other shopping centers offer their workers the same compensation. This has to do with the fact that Yekaterinburg and Sverdlovsk Region’s largest shopping centers were from the very start designed in such a way that the natural sunlight in the rooms is blocked, ventilation norms are violated, and there is too much dust,’ says Chairman of Sverdlovsk Region Trade Union (called Trading Unity) Alexander Brusnitsin.

METRO currently operates 3 stores in Yekaterinburg.