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Home Secretary meets North West victims of workplace abuse01 May 2008
Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith, met with victims of abuse in the workplace from Blackpool and Cheshire at Usdaw’s annual conference in Blackpool. Jacqui Smith was at the Usdaw conference to re-launch the Union’s Freedom From Fear campaign to protect shopworkers from violence and abuse in the workplace. The Home Secretary also unveiled Voices From the Frontline: revisited – Usdaw’s document giving the latest figures on violence against shopworkers. Figures unveiled today from the 2007 survey show that:
(Case studies of victims of workplace abuse from Blackpool and Cheshire below.) Jacqui commented: “Retail crime is not a victimless crime. The Government is working with Usdaw and retail employers to help lower the incidence of retail crime. Usdaw’s pioneering Freedom From Fear Campaign has really moved the issue up the political agenda, which shows how a trade union can effectively engage and protect its members. “In the Home Office we have established the National Retail Crime Steering Group, which will provide retailers with new, innovative solutions to tackle retail crime. I am delighted that Usdaw has agreed to take a seat on the Group, putting the Union at the heart of policy making. “Freedom From Fear is an important campaign that continues to move the agenda forward and will help all stakeholders to improve safety in stores and deliver respect for shopworkers.” John Hannett, Usdaw General Secretary, added: “I launched Usdaw’s Freedom From Fear campaign in 2002 to highlight and tackle a rising tide of violence, threats and abuse against our members and all shopworkers. The campaign gives a strong message to our members, ’Abuse is not a part of the job’. “For too long shopworkers felt they had to put up with verbal abuse and threats. Now there is hope and our campaign is delivering real improvements. However, there is still a long way to go, and while there is any abuse towards shopworkers our job will go on. That’s why Usdaw is relaunching Freedom From Fear, and we are very grateful to Jacqui Smith for joining us today to show her ongoing support for this important campaign.” Usdaw’s ADM is being held at Blackpool’s Winter Gardens from 27 to 30 April 2008, attended by approximately 1,500 representatives of Usdaw’s 359,000 members. Usdaw is the fourth largest union in the UK and represents shopworkers, factory and warehouse workers, drivers, clerical workers, insurance workers, butchers, slaughterhouse workers, meat packers, milk round and dairy process workers. Jane Rogers’ story (Blackpool) Before retiring with ill health, Jane worked as a health care assistant, behind a chemist counter in Blackpool. At one point Jane was on the receiving end of a large packet of nappies when a customer got angry. She has also witnessed a colleague being slapped in the face by a customer who simply didn’t like the pen they’d been given to sign for a prescription. She was only given standard customer service training by her company and believes that more should be done to protect vulnerable shopworkers like herself. Jane says there is no way to tell who will be violent or abusive: “Obviously there are the drug addicts who come in for methadone, who are frequently abusive and intimidating. However, sometimes it will be the smartly dressed man in a suit who is being loud and threatening. We have to be on our guard all the time and it can be very stressful. “Companies often have good policies for protecting staff, but these aren’t always enforced by local management. The Freedom From Fear campaign is important because it spreads the message to employers that any level of abuse to staff should not be tolerated and that action needs to be taken to ensure that shopworkers are able to go about their jobs without constantly worrying what might happen next.” Patricia Page’s story (Cheshire) Patricia works behind the customer service desk as a sales assistant in a large store in Cheshire. She often receives verbal abuse and intimidation from customers and believes that the culture of the customer always being right has led to people taking advantage of the system. Patricia says this can leave her in a very difficult situation: “Often, on the advice of my managers, I have to tell customers that an item they are trying to return cannot be refunded because of damage the customer themselves has caused to it. Increasingly, irate customers are demanding to see the management, who often then give the customer the refund that I have been told I’m not allowed to give, because they are afraid of getting complaints. This makes me feel undermined, but more importantly sends the message to the customer that if they kick up enough of a fuss, they will always get what they want. I want to do a good job, but being in this position takes away from the enjoyment and makes it harder for me to provide really good customer service. “I am backing the Freedom From Fear campaign, as it not only reminds customers that abuse or intimidation of any kind is not acceptable, but it also encourages employers to set up better systems that mean shopworkers know they are supported by their managers when dealing with violent or abusive customers.” To read more about Usdaw’s Freedom From Fear campaign visit www.usdaw.org.uk/campaigns/freedom_from_fear/news/ Notes to Editors:
Contact Details Media and Communications Department Ph: 0161 224 2804 Fax: 0161 249 2490 Email: communications@usdaw.org.uk  Printer Friendly Page  Email to a Friend
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