Usdaw’s annual survey has found that nine in ten of the trade union’s members working in retail are suffering abuse from customers.
Paddy Lillis – Usdaw General Secretary says: “Particularly concerning is the one-third increase in assaults, up from 9pc in 2020 to 12pc in 2021. So it is extremely worrying that nearly two-thirds are not confident that reporting these issues will make any difference.
“Violence and abuse is not an acceptable part of the job and it is truly horrific that shop workers are having to face it on a daily basis. Although the situation is bleak, there are some early signs that our work with retail employers may be starting to make a difference.
“The Protection of Workers Act came into force in Scotland in August 2021. By the end of the year nearly 300 cases were under investigation by the Scottish police. While we still do not have similar laws for England, Wales or Northern Ireland, the Westminster Government has given its support to an amendment to their Policing Bill that would make violence against workers a statutory aggravating factor when sentencing.
“However, faced with such appallingly high levels of violence and abuse, and with shop workers’ almost complete lack of confidence in the ability of the system to give them the protection they need, much more needs to be done. The Government must provide the co-ordination needed to ensure that retail employers, police and the courts work together to make stores safe places for our members to work and for customers to shop.”
As a sign of the disconnect between crime on the shop floor and the Home Office, a recent police-led awareness campaign launched in Birmingham urged shoppers to ‘shop kind‘. More of such advertising-led stunts is planned.
The survey heard of cases of customers over-reacting violently, in such stories as ‘Customer walked me into a corner and threatened my life for not stopping a maskless customer entering the store’ and ‘Customer in his 60s waited for me to finish my shift then tried to stab me at the bus stop because he had been made to wait in a queue outside the shop’.
Survey full results at the Usdaw website: www.usdaw.org.uk/FFFsurvey2021.
