Keep calm and be nice to people providing service
IRECENTLY joined shop workers at Tesco Caernarfon at their stall in the foyer of the shop.
They were collecting signatures on a petition as part of the campaign to raise awareness about the abuse, threats and violence faced by shop workers on a daily basis – yes, even in places like Caernarfon.
With the lead up to Christmas underway, the union representing shop-workers, Usdaw has launched its ‘ Freedom From Fear Campaign.’
Usdaw is the Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers.
Their recent annual survey found that more than 300 shop workers are abused or assaulted simply for doing their job every day.
In the last twelve months nearly half of shop workers were verbally abused and a quarter were threatened.
The statistics are shocking and show that urgent action is required.
Verbal abuse is a regular occurrence for shop workers.
Angry customers will tend to take it out on the till staff if something annoys them.
Respect for Shop Workers Week takes place at the beginning of November each year and is the central event of the ‘Freedom From Fear Campaign’.
The theme this year is ‘Keep Your Cool at Christmas’ reinforcing the message that abuse is not tolerated.
During my visit, I had an opportunity to discuss the campaign and the experiences of front line shop workers.
Cheryl Williams (Usdaw Union representative), Sorrell Lloyd and Sheila Evans explained that problems most often arise at the store late at night, especially during the weekend.
The shop now closes an hour earlier than it did in a bid to protect shop workers.
A barrier has been installed to prevent drivers from entering the car park after the shop has closed to prevent threats to workers as they were leaving work and to stop late-night revving of cars which was upsetting people living nearby.
Abusive and threatening behaviour towards shop workers is totally unacceptable.
People who provide a service to the public deserve to be able to go about their job without the fear of abuse and violence.
The ‘Keep Your Cool at Christmas’ campaign seeks to highlight the rising tension levels in stores during the Christmas shopping period, especially during the increasingly busy Black Friday sales.
It can be a very stressful time, but there is no need to take it out on the shop workers – they deserve our respect just like everyone else.