Campaign to support shopworkers at Christmas

As the pressures of the festive season mount, MSP Jackie Baillie has backed a campaign to support retail workers.

She says that the cost-of-living crisis will pile the pressure on Helensburgh and Lomond residents attempting to keep up with the demands of filling Santa’s sleigh.

But the Dumbarton constituency MSP has voiced her support for shopworkers’ union Usdaw and their new ‘Keep your Cool’ at Christmas campaign.

The initiative aims to ensure retail workers are treated with dignity ahead of the dawn of ‘Super Saturday’ on December 23  – the last full shopping day before Christmas, when stores anticipate a bumper shopping rush.

Statistics from Usdaw’s annual survey of shopworkers shows there are still far too many incidents of violence, threats and abuse against shopworkers.

Interim results from over 3,000 retail staff responses show that in the last 12 months:

• 65% have experienced verbal abuse.
• 42% were threatened by a customer.
• 5% were assaulted.
• 72% of verbal abuse was caused by customer frustration.

The union has also collated voices from the frontline. These are some of the comments shopworkers shared when responding to Usdaw’s survey:

• “Aggressive and confrontational customers. Seen shoplifters run out of the door. Customers blame us for lack of stock on shelves.”
•  “Called an “ignoramus woman” for (correctly) printing the requested lottery tickets.”
• “Bad language, threatening to stab people. Customer told me to shut up and f**k myself.”
•  “Customer was unhappy about being charged for a plastic bag, became very verbally abusive and followed me, threatening physical violence.”
• “Drunk people not happy when refused to serve them, threatening and banging on the screen.”
• “I’ve been screamed at and verbally abused by so many customers and so often. I have anxiety and nightmares about going to work.”

Crimes of dishonesty is the largest crime group recorded in Scotland, with shoplifting accounting for 28% of all crimes of dishonesty in 2022/23.

The effects on shopworkers of a ‘tsunami’ of retail crime were also highlighted weeks ago by the Scottish Grocers’ Federation at their annual conference in Glasgow.

Jackie Baillie said: “The impact of crime and abuse on retail workers forced to cope in the face of increasing threat have rarely been out of the news in recent months.

“It is vital that shopworkers in our communities are free to go about their work without fear of abuse, violence or intimidation and that is why I support Usdaw’s campaign.

“The Covid pandemic highlighted the essential services retail workers provide and they are the unsung heroes of our high streets, it is essential that they are treated with dignity and respect.”