Two councillors, Bob Pringle and Charlie Clark, spoke against the decision to repeal Bylaw 7220 after a series of five-minute presentations from workers and union reps who pleaded to maintain the status quo.
If retailers are allowed to stay open 24 hours a day, their staff -- and the families they support -- will suffer the consequences, the speakers told council.
"I'm being forced to give up what means the most to me -- myself and my family," said a distraught Angela Mongovius, who noted Saskatoon does not have a 24-hour day care where retail workers could leave their kids when they have to work in the middle of the night.
People are already forced to work on statutory holidays, when they'd rather be with family, because employers can't find enough staff willing to volunteer for those shifts, Mongovius said.
The bylaw specifically stated the purpose of regulating retail store hours was to protect the quality of life for workers in Saskatoon -- and there's just as much need for that now as there was when the bylaw was enacted in 1991, argued Norm Neault of the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) union Local 1400.
Neault -- brother to Coun. Maurice Neault -- presented a petition signed by more than 600 people opposed to deregulation of store hours.
"They care, and I hope all of you do," he told council.
Westfair Foods has already indicated it will keep its grocery stores -- such as Superstore -- open on Sunday nights after the bylaw disappears, Neault warned, adding most retail employees have little or no control over their work schedules.
Gail Mack, who has worked in the industry for 27 years, predicted extra late-night hours will fall to "skeleton crews" of senior staff, because students and younger part-time workers with multiple jobs will refuse those shifts. Customers who shop at those times will get poor service and staff will be at higher risk from thieves, both on the job and on their way home from work, she said.
"Are you going to make sure that the buses are available to ensure that I have a safe way to and from work?"
UFCW representative Don Logan said the ability to balance their lives between work and home has long been an important issue for employees in contract negotiations.
"Just as wages and benefits are important to our members, so are employees' time with their family. You would not think this concept would present an issue to an employer, yet contract after contract this single issue becomes the most difficult to improve upon," he said.
Local retailers aren't going to keep their doors open 24 hours a day just because they're allowed to do so -- it just wouldn't be profitable, said Coun. Glen Penner. The City of Regina hasn't regulated store hours for several years, but 24-hour shopping has not materialized there, he said.