Store employees speak out about violence, threats and abuse

Shop staff in Gloucestershire have spoken out about the increasing problem of receiving violence, threats and abuse.

This week is Respect for Shop Workers Week and members of retail trade union Usdaw are raising awareness of the union’s year-round Freedom from Fear campaign and talking to the public to send a message of respect for shop workers promote.

Responses from more than 4,000 retail workers in the South West show that in the past 12 months: 69% have experienced verbal abuse 45% have been threatened by a customer 17% have been assaulted 70% of these incidents were caused by shoplifting and two-thirds of these were related to addiction

Shop staff in Gloucestershire reported: “I had baskets thrown at me because of queues”; “Customer scolded me for not receiving a refund”; “Abuse shouted at me because of my personal appearance” and “Shoplifters threaten and throw things”.

Store manager Graham Bocking said: “It’s a huge problem and it’s growing. Colleagues are regularly abused. It ranges from rude comments to shouting at people to threats of violence and is on the rise in retail.

“Only a small number are actually reported so we don’t know the full extent, but it is increasing and has been since Covid. The mental impact of being threatened is phenomenal. I was a store manager at a supermarket and was threatened. It’s just not acceptable. We need to raise awareness about the way retail workers are treated. They are just there to do their job.

He added: “Shoplifting is also a huge problem. It is seen by many people as a victimless crime, but it is not a victimless crime because people have to pay more for their goods. On a national scale you would think it would cost a lot of money. billions of pounds, all of which will result in price increases.”

Wendy Hawker, Usdaw shop assistant at Tesco in Brockworthsaid abuse of staff was a major problem, especially at this time of year.

She said: “Staff are being abused and there is also violence. We make people aware that it is not acceptable and we support the Freedom of Fear campaign.

“Coming up to Christmas it gets a little bit worse because people get stressed and irritated. At this time of year it’s a campaign we run. It raises awareness among customers and it helps staff know they can get help when they need it .

“It’s gotten worse over the years. People seem to think, yes, it’s okay to come in and abuse the staff, and no, it’s not okay. Because people come to work to get off work to enjoy and not to come to work to be abused and see that abuse is happening.” violence.

“It has to be a safe place to work. It can affect their health and they may not want to come to work because they don’t want another episode of what happened the day before, and it’s upsetting for them and their families .”

A visit to the store was Chris Nelson, Police and Crime Commissioner for Gloucestershirewho said: “I was invited down because the unions are creating a desk to explain to customers the importance of being kind to staff because of the problems of abuse.

“This store’s approach to shoplifting is design and crime prevention and what can the store itself do to prevent shoplifting. We will of course support them. Over the last year we have had extra patrols to tackle this really serious problem.

“There are three types of basic shoplifters: shoplifters who lack food; the addicts who feed their habit; and the organized crime group. It is the organized crime groups that are a particular problem. We have seen a lot of growth recently. We have seen the last seen a lot of growth over time. Various teams are deployed in response when a manager calls us.

“Across the country we have around 300 officers dealing with all kinds of cases, and shoplifting and protecting staff are all part of their job. Shortage of resources is always an issue. I hope to receive a government grant in December. so we can expand our resources and address these issues better.”