After two decades of the Freedom from Fear campaign, which seeks to prevent violence, threats and abuse against shopworkers, Usdaw secured legislative success in the Scottish Parliament and Westminster. Holyrood passed the Protection of Workers (Retail and Age-restricted Goods and Services) (Scotland) Act 2021. The House of Lords voted for a protection of workers amendment that put into statute a sentencing aggravating factor that recognises the public-facing role of the victim.
Paddy Lillis – Usdaw General Secretary says: “Violence, threats and abuse have long been a major issue for shopworkers, which is why Usdaw launched the Freedom from Fear Campaign in 2003. Shockingly, incidents during the pandemic became much worse. However, while Covid triggers for abuse, such as face masks and social distancing, have gone; the level of incidents faced by retail workers is now higher than before the pandemic. So Government action was long overdue.
“After extensive campaigning by our reps and members, we secured a breakthrough in Holyrood and Westminster. Scottish Labour’s Daniel Johnson MSP successfully steered through his private members’ bill and earned unanimous support. Labour’s frontbench, with cross-party support, pushed the Government, after years of resistance, to toughen sentencing for those who assault workers.
“Our campaign also has an industrial focus, with an army of Usdaw health and safety reps risk assessing workplaces and negotiating improvements with local management. At national level the union worked with retail employers to improve company policies and jointly campaign for Government action. A coalition across the retail sector was built, with the support of the Co-op, British Retail Consortium, Association of Convenience Stores and over 100 major retailers. Combined we proved to be an influential force that persuaded Ministers to support Usdaw’s campaign.
“The campaign priorities for this year are to continue monitoring the levels of abuse our members suffer, examining the effectiveness of the new legislation and encouraging our members to report the incidents they experience. It is very worrying that nearly half of shopworkers are not confident that reporting abuse, threats and violence will make a difference. So our message to members is clear, if they report it we can help sort it.
“Throughout ‘Heart Unions’ week, Usdaw, along with the TUC, is celebrating the positive contribution trade union members make to the UK economy and wider society, while highlighting the benefits of trade union membership.”
Notes for editors:
Usdaw (Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers) is the UK's fifth biggest trade union with around 360,000 members. Most Usdaw members work in the retail sector, but the union also has many members in transport, distribution, food manufacturing, chemical industry and other trades.
Heart Unions’ week: www.tuc.org.uk/heartunions 13 to 19 February 2023 highlights the positive contribution that trade unions make in workplaces and across wider society.
Join Usdaw: www.usdaw.org.uk/Join-Us
Interim results of the Usdaw 2022 survey, based on 4,676 responses, show that (last year’s results in brackets): 71.21% (89%) were verbally abused, 48.12% (64%) were threatened. 15% of shopworkers had been assaulted during their career. 5.13% (11%) had been assaulted this year. Asked “On a scale of 1-10 how confident are you that reporting abuse, threats and violence will make a difference” 45.28% scored less than five out of ten. The final results of the survey are due to be published 10 March 2023.
| Comparison |
2019 |
2020 |
2021 |
2022 |
| Abuse |
67% |
88% |
89% |
71% |
| Threats |
42% |
61% |
63% |
48% |
| Violence |
5% |
9% |
12% |
5% |
Usdaw’s Freedom from Fear Campaign seeks to prevent violence, threats and abuse against workers by engaging the public, shopworkers and the Government.
www.usdaw.org.uk/Campaigns/Freedom-From-Fear
Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022 – part 7 – chapter 3 - Assaults on those providing a public service etc:
https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2022/32/part/7/chapter/3/enacted
Protection of Workers (Retail and Age-restricted Goods and Services) (Scotland) Act 2021: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2021/6
For Usdaw press releases visit: http://www.usdaw.org.uk/news and you can follow us on Twitter
@UsdawUnion