Shopworkers’ trade union Usdaw organises the annual respect week, this year’s is 14 - 20 November, when Usdaw reps and members will be campaigning as part of the union’s Freedom from Fear Campaign. Whilst talking to shoppers about the issues, they will be surveying retail staff about incidents of verbal abuse, threats and violent attacks at work.
John Hannett – Usdaw General Secretary says: “Every minute of every day another shopworker is threatened, assaulted or verbally abused. No one should have to put up with violence or abuse at work.
“Respect for Shopworkers Week is an opportunity for our members to talk to the public about abuse at work and to ask customers to keep their cool and show respect for shopworkers.
“The week also highlights the important work Usdaw does negotiating with employers for safety and security improvements in stores, and lobbying the governments across the United Kingdom to tackle retail crime and anti-social behaviour in shopping areas and provide improved legal protection for public facing workers who are assaulted during the course of their jobs.
Please support the Usdaw thunderclap to help promote respect for shopworkers at:
https://www.thunderclap.it/projects/49537-usdaw-respect16
Notes for editors:
Usdaw (Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers) is the UK's fourth biggest and the fastest growing trade union with over 435,000 members. Membership has increased by more than 10% in the last five years and by nearly a third in the last decade. Most Usdaw members work in the retail sector, but the Union also has many members in transport, distribution, food manufacturing, chemicals and other trades.
Respect for Shopworkers Week 2016 takes place on 14-20 November. It is an annual event where shopworkers talk to the public about the problems of violence threats and abuse, asking customers to ‘keep their cool’. Part of the campaign will be encouraging shopworker not to take abuse as part of the job and report incidents to their manager.
For Usdaw press releases visit: www.usdaw.org.uk/news and you can follow us on Twitter
@UsdawUnion