Respect for Shopworkers Day in the UK:
Usdaw United
to give verbal abuse a red card as half a million
shopworkers are abused every working day
Britain's shop
workers have come together as Usdaw United Against Abuse to
give disgusting verbal abuse from shoppers the red card
after a new survey found a staggering 95% of retail staff
have been verbally abused and half a million suffer verbal
abuse every day.
Usdaw United Against Abuse teams across the
UK will be handing out red cards to the public today, on
national Respect for Shopworkers Day, reminding shoppers
that verbally abusing staff is a form of intimidation
suffered by millions of retail workers every year.
- Our research has found that at least
half a million shopworkers are verbally abused every working
day, says Usdaw General Secretary John Hannett.
- Most shoppers would never think of
physically assaulting a shop worker, but many seem to think
it is alright to scream the most disgusting abuse into the
faces of retail workers.
- Last year verbal abuse of shop staff
shot up by an alarming 35% so our members are saying enough
is enough and they will no longer tolerate vile abuse as
part of their daily working lives.
- It’s not acceptable in a decent society
for any shopper to walk into a store and scream abuse at a
shop worker who was eight months pregnant which happened to
one of our members.
- Football referees can use a red card to
send off players who verbally abuse them so our members will
be distributing the Usdaw red card spreading the message
that anyone abusing staff can be removed from stores or even
prosecuted.
- Every day our members suffer a
terrifying catalogue of physical abuse from being stabbed,
hit with iron bars and being threatened with dirty syringes,
but vicious verbal abuse day after day can be equally
damaging resulting in many shopworkers quitting their jobs.”
Usdaw members report that serious
instances of graphic swearing, sexist comments, homophobic
abuse and racist taunts from out of control shoppers are
rising sharply.
- Our simple message is that retail
workers are not verbal punch-bags for shoppers to take out
their frustrations on,” says John Hannett. “They are human
beings with feelings too and have a right to work in a
non-threatening environment. Shoppers need to remember
shopworkers are someone’s mother, sister, father, brother or
sister and you wouldn’t abuse your own relatives like this.
- The red card is a reminder to the public
that if they feel themselves losing control in a shop to
take a step back, think about your actions and understand no
situation in a shop, no matter how stressful, gives you the
right to verbally abuse a retail worker. |
