Rhoda Grant MSP backs Usdaws call for shoppers to keep your cool and not abuse shopworkers

19th November 2013

Rhoda Grant MSP has joined with members of the retail union Usdaw to campaign for respect for shopworkers as part of the Freedom From Fear Campaign, which seeks to prevent violence, threats and abuse directed at retail staff.

The campaign event took place on Wednesday 13 November, in the middle of Usdaw's Respect for Shopworkers Week, at the Scottish Parliament.

Rhoda Grant MSP for the Highlands and Islands Region says: Too often retail employees are confronted with violence, threats and abuse and it is really important we stand together and ask people to keep their cool and respect shopworkers.

I support Usdaw's call for a change in the law to provide stiffer sentences for those who assault workers. It was very disappointing the SNP Government blocked Hugh Henry's Workers (Aggravated Offences) Scotland Bill 2010 in the last Parliament. That Bill would have included all workers serving the public in the protections we have already given to emergency service workers.

I hope that we will get an opportunity in this Parliament to vote on such a measure and that the Government will have a change of heart and offer more than warm words this time. There is a real need to address the scourge of workers being assaulted and I am concerned that assailants are getting away with it too easily.

Cases like Val, a Scottish shopworker, who was punched on the jaw when she asked a persistent shoplifter to leave, because the thief had been barred from the store. Val gave a statement and the police saw the CCTV footage. The attacker was arrested but nothing more has happened.

I am not convinced that the issue of violence against shopworkers is being taken seriously. I will continue to campaign with Usdaw for a change in the law to ensure that proper punishments are given out and to give a clear message that assaulting workers who are serving the public is totally unacceptable.

Lawrence Wason Usdaw's Scottish Divisional Officer says: We are grateful for the support of MSPs like Rhoda Grant who support our campaign to keep our members safe at work.

Often, in the course of their duties, shopworkers are expected to enforce the law, whether that is preventing under-age purchases or detaining shoplifters until the police arrive, they can be put in real danger. Parliament passes these laws and expects shopworkers to enforce them, so we are asking Parliament for better protection for these workers.

Usdaw (Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers) is the UK's fourth biggest and the fastest growing trade union with over 433,000 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.

Usdaw's Freedom From Fear Survey Report 2013, the interim results of shopworkers experiences over the last year, from the first 1,844 responses from across the whole of the UK, are:
Victims of verbal abuse: 49%
Shopworkers threatened: 35%
Violent assaults: 4%

Respect for Shopworker Week 2013 takes place on 11 - 15 November. It is an annual event where shopworkers talk to the public about the problems of violence threats and abuse, asking customers to keep their cool. Part of the campaign will be encouraging shopworker not to take abuse as part of the job and report incidents to their manager.

For further information please contact Usdaw's Acting Media Officer, David Williams on: 0161 249 2469, 07798 696 603 or by e-mail to david.a.williams[AT]usdaw.org.uk

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