Shoppers urged to be kind to retail staff ahead of Christmas rush in new campaign

Earlier this week, trade union Usdaw revealed details of a survey that showed 69 percent of retail staff experienced verbal abuse, and 45 percent had been threatened by a customer.

Almost one in five revealed they had been physically assaulted while working their jobs, including one person who was stabbed by a screwdriver.

It’s said 70% of the incidents were triggered by shoplifting while two-thirds of them were linked to addiction.

Usdaw have now combined with the Scottish Retail Consortium to urge the public to be kind and considerate to fellow customers and retail workers as shops begin to get busier.

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Retail is Scotland’s largest private sector with 230,000 Scots directly employed in the industry. The festive period is a crucial time of year for them and working in retail is a complex and challenging time, with everyone working to ensure shelves are kept stocked and products are delivered while everything is a bit busier.

SRC and Usdaw are now launching their campaign on social media and comes during the Respect for Shopworkers Week.

David Lonsdale, Director, Scottish Retail Consortium said: “As the clock counts down to Christmas Day, retail stores and websites will become increasingly busy. People in retail are doing a brilliant job working hard to look after customers, helping them find what they need, keeping shelves stocked and delivering goods.

“While this time of year can be a little stressful, any mistreatment of store colleagues and delivery drivers will not be tolerated. Confrontations, be it verbal abuse or physical assault, can take a huge toll on victims, their families and their colleagues.

“When everyone shows a little Christmas kindness and courtesy – everyone will be better off. That way we can all enjoy shopping over the festive period and support local jobs and the vibrancy of our high streets and retail destinations.”

Tony Doonan, Scottish Regional Secretary, Usdaw said: “People across retail work incredibly hard over the busy festive period to make sure everyone can get the gifts and items they are looking for and enjoy the brilliant shopping experiences that Scotland has to offer.

“They deserve to be treated with respect and kindness and there is no place whatsoever for any abuse or violence towards shopworkers. We urge customers to treat retail workers the way they would like to be treated, that way everyone can enjoy their shopping experience as we celebrate Christmas.”

Speaking about the survey results earlier this week, Mr Doonan added: “Shop workers deserve far more respect than they receive and these experiences from Scottish retail workers make very difficult reading.

“It is shocking that over two-thirds of our members working in retail are suffering abuse from customers, with far too many experiencing threats and violence. Seven in ten of these incidents were triggered by theft from shops, which is clearly the result of a near doubling in police recorded shoplifting across Scotland since the pandemic.

“It has become increasingly common for retail stores to be targeted by organised crime gangs stealing to order in the midst of a retail crime epidemic.

“Our survey demonstrates that theft from shops is not a victimless crime, with incidents regularly being a major flashpoint for violence and abuse against shop workers.

“Having to deal with repeated and persistent theft and even looting can cause issues beyond the incident itself like anxiety, fear and in some cases physical harm to retail workers.

“Our members are reporting that they are often faced with hardened career criminals in their stores and much of the abuse they suffer is from those who are stealing to sell goods on, often to fund an addiction.

“Violence and abuse is not an acceptable part of the job and much more needs to be done to protect shop workers. We were delighted to have won the campaign for a protection of workers law in the Scottish Parliament, but that is the beginning not the end.

“We have to ensure that the legislation is central to tackle a growing wave of retail crime and Usdaw looks forward to working with Police Scotland to make that happen.”