Paddy Lillis - Usdaw General Secretary says: “We very much welcome the opportunity of participating in this year’s ‘Together Fest’, alongside the all year round work we do with the Retail Trust to support the welfare of shopworkers.
“The link between abuse from customers and staff mental health is clear. Usdaw’s own annual survey of over 7,700 retail staff found that nearly a third are considering changing their job and over four-in-ten feel anxious about work, all because of high levels of verbal abuse, threats and assaults. No-one should feel afraid to go to work, but our evidence shows that too many retail workers are.
“It is shocking that nearly three-quarters of our members working in retail are suffering abuse from customers, with far too many experiencing threats and violence. 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.
“Violence and abuse are not an acceptable part of the job and too many shopworkers suffer all too often. We still need better co-ordination to ensure that retail employers, police and the courts work together to make stores safer and give staff the support and confidence they need. Most of all, we ask the public to support our campaign by respecting shopworkers.”
Notes for editors:
Usdaw (Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers) is the UK's fifth biggest trade union with over 350,000 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
www.usdaw.org.uk
Final results of the Usdaw 2022 survey, based on 7,752 responses, show that (last year’s results in brackets): 74.26% (89%) were verbally abused, 49.25% (63%) were threatened. 7.92% (12%) had been assaulted. 40.88% said violence, threats and abuse caused them anxiety at work and 29.97% are now considering changing job. Top triggers for abuse: 34% shoplifting and armed robbery, along with 16% age-restricted sales. The full report can be found at:
www.usdaw.org.uk/FFFReport2022
| Comparison |
2019 |
2020 |
2021 |
2022 |
| Abuse |
68% |
88% |
89% |
74% |
| Threats |
43% |
61% |
63% |
49% |
| Violence |
5% |
9% |
12% |
8% |
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
For Usdaw press releases visit: http://www.usdaw.org.uk/news and you can follow us on Twitter
@UsdawUnion