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Retail staff are essential to our communities, particularly during the Coronavirus crisis and they deserve the protection of the law says Usdaw

Date: 16 March 2020 Shopworkers’ trade union Usdaw has welcomed the proposal of legislation to protect shopworkers, which was promoted today in the House of Commons by Alex Norris MP (Labour/Co-op, Nottingham North).
Paddy Lillis – Usdaw General Secretary says: “Usdaw and the retail employers have been calling, for some time, on the Government to support legislation to protect shopworkers from rising levels of violence, abuse and assaults. We have always made the case that retail staff are at the heart of our communities, but with the current Coronavirus crisis we would argue that they are essential workers.
 
“Usdaw members right across the retail supply chain and in stores are working hard to keep shelves filled and serve customers. We understand this is a stressful time and remind customers that shopworkers deserve respect and that no level of abuse is ever acceptable. It should never be a part of the job.”
 
“We welcome that the Bill was not opposed in the House of Commons today and it has cross-party support, but we need the Government to act by providing proper penalties for those who assault workers; a simple stand-alone law that is widely recognised and understood by the public, police, CPS, the judiciary and, most importantly, criminals. So we urge the Government to support the legislation proposed by Alex Norris MP.”
 
Notes for editors:
 
Usdaw (Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers) is the UK's fifth biggest trade union with over 400,000 members. Membership has increased by more than one-third over the last couple of decades. Most Usdaw members work in the retail sector, but the union also has many members in transport, distribution, food manufacturing, chemicals and other trades.

For Usdaw press releases visit: http://www.usdaw.org.uk/news and you can follow us on Twitter @UsdawUnion

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