One in five shop staff has suffered a violent attack, reports retail union Usdaw

13 March 2024 , 12:19

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Usdaw general secretary Paddy Lillis said retail workers are being attacked for just doing their jobs

Violence against shop workers is on the rise, new research from retail union Usdaw has revealed.

Almost one in five staff (20%) said they had been attacked up from 8% reported attacks in 2022, according to Usdaw who interviewed more than 5,500 shop staff in a survey. The sharp rise comes amid what the union is calling an "epidemic" of thefts from stores, with thieves including "hardened career criminals".

The study also found that over the past year, 70% of respondents were verbally abused, nearly half were threatened by a customer, and just less than a fifth were physically attacked. Union boss Paddy Lillis said his members shouldn't feel scared to go to work.

He was shocked at how many workers were being assaulted just for doing their job. The general secretary commented on the gravity of the issue: "No-one should feel afraid to go to work, but our evidence shows that too many retail workers are."

He added: "It is shocking that nearly a fifth of our members working in retail are being assaulted for simply doing their job and serving the community. They provide an essential service and deserve our respect and the protection of the law."

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He said that staff have had to deal with repeat offenders and highlighted the connection between abuse and theft: "Our members have reported that they are often faced with hardened career criminals, and we know that retail workers are much more likely to be abused by those who are stealing to sell goods on."

Mr Lillis concluded by saying action needed to be taken: "Violence and abuse is not an acceptable part of the job and much more needs to be done to protect shop workers. The Government has repeatedly failed to act in the face of an epidemic of retail crime, rising theft from shops and assaults against retail workers. It is disappointing that they have no measures in their legislative programme to tackle this issue."

"A protection of shop workers' law is also supported by many retailers. It already exists in Scotland and has secured over 500 convictions. We also need more neighbourhood police, with patrols in town centres, respect orders to ban repeat offenders, and an end to the £200 threshold for investigating and prosecuting shop theft. Most of all, we ask the public to support our campaign by respecting shop workers."

Lawrence Matheson