Usdaw United to give verbal abuse a red card

Shopworkers have come together as Usdaw United Against Abuse to give disgusting verbal abuse from shoppers the red card after a new survey found a staggering 95% of retail staff have been verbally abused and half a million suffer verbal abuse every day.

Usdaw United Against Abuse teams across the UK will be handing out red cards to the public on national Respect for Shopworkers Day reminding shoppers that verbally abusing staff is a form of intimidation suffered by millions of retail workers every year.

"Our research has found that at least half a million shopworkers are verbally abused every working day," says Usdaw General Secretary John Hannett. "Most shoppers would never think of physically assaulting a shopworker, but many seem to think it is alright to scream the most disgusting abuse into the faces of retail workers."

"Last year verbal abuse of shop staff shot up by an alarming 35% so our members are saying enough is enough and they will no longer tolerate vile abuse as part of their daily working lives.

"It's not acceptable in a decent society for any shopper to walk into a store and scream abuse at a shopworker who was eight months pregnant which happened to one of our members.

"Football referees can use a red card to send off players who verbally abuse them so our members will be distributing the Usdaw red card spreading the message that anyone abusing staff can be removed from stores or even prosecuted.

"Every day our members suffer a terrifying catalogue of physical abuse from being stabbed, hit with iron bars and being threatened with dirty syringes, but vicious verbal abuse day after day can be equally damaging resulting in many shopworkers quitting their jobs."

Usdaw members report that serious instances of graphic swearing, sexist comments, homophobic abuse and racist taunts from out of control shoppers are rising sharply.

"Our simple message is that retail workers are not verbal punchbags for shoppers to take out their frustrations on," says John Hannett. "They are human beings with feelings too and have a right to work in a non-threatening environment. Shoppers need to remember shopworkers are someone's mother, sister, father, brother or sister and you wouldn't abuse your own relatives like this.

"The red card is a reminder to the public that if they feel themselves losing control in a shop to take a step back, think about your actions and understand no situation in a shop, no matter how stressful, gives you the right to verbally abuse a retail worker."

Notes to Editors:

• Respect for Shopworkers day is Wednesday July 12th 2006.
• Contacts for newsdesks: Usdaw's Media Officer, Paul Clarke, can be contacted on 0161 249 2469 or e-mail paul.clarke@usdaw.org.uk.
• Usdaw (the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers) is the UK's fifth biggest trade union, with over 340,000 members. Most Usdaw members work in the retail sector, but the union also has many members in transport, distribution, food manufacturing, chemicals and other trades.
• More information and news releases are available at our online Newsroom.
• Journalists can subscribe to receive Usdaw news releases via our online e-news service.

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© 2003 (USDAW) Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers
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