John Hannett – Usdaw General
Secretary says: ‘In the course of their duties shopworkers
can be put in real danger, suffering violence, threats and abuse.
So it is always a real concern to our members when incidents of
shoplifting are on the increase, because too often that can result
in the shopworkers being assaulted by the thief.
‘Every day over 300 shopworkers are
assaulted, so there is a real need to address the scourge of
violence against workers and I am concerned that the attackers are
getting away with relatively lenient sentences.
‘On three occasions in the current
parliamentary session the Government has been given the opportunity
to support measures that would have provided greater protection for
shopworkers and I was very disappointed to see Tories and Liberals
combining to block these proposals.
‘We will continue to campaign for a change
in the law to ensure that proper punishments are given out and to
give a clear message that assaulting shopworkers is totally
unacceptable.’
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 430,000 members. Membership
has increased by more than 17% 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.
The Crime Survey for England and
Wales, produced by the Office for National Statistics,
estimates that victim-based crime fell by 15% during 2013, but
shoplifting increased by 6%
http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/crime-stats/crime-statistics/period-ending-december-2013/stb-crime-stats-dec-2013.html
Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and
Policing Bill - New Clause 26, ‘Assault of Workers’ was
moved by Jack Dromey MP and debated in the House of Commons on 15
October 2013 (Col 628).
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201314/cmhansrd/cm131015/debtext/131015-0002.htm
Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and
Policing Bill – Amendment 87, ‘Assault of Workers’ was
moved by Lord Foulkes of Cumnock and debated in the House of Lord’s
on 14 January 2014 (Col 165).
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld201314/ldhansrd/text/140114-0002.htm
Criminal Justice and Courts Bill -
New Clause 11, ‘Assault on workers selling alcohol’ was
moved by Dan Jarvis MP and debated in Committee on 27 March 2014
(Col 502).
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201314/cmpublic/criminaljustice/140327/pm/140327s01.htm
For further information
please contact Usdaw’s Acting Media Officer, David Williams on:
0161 249 2469, 07798 696 603 or by e-mail to
[email protected]
For Usdaw press releases visit:
www.usdaw.org.uk/news and
you can follow us on Twitter @UsdawUnion