Usdaw, along with the employers’ organisation Northern Ireland Retail Consortium (NIRC), is seeking Stormont support for a Scottish-style protection of shop workers’ law. This week they jointly wrote to Naomi Long MLA, Minister of Justice, urging action to protect retail workers from violence and abuse, amid a huge increase in the number of incidents in recent years.
Usdaw’s latest annual survey of over 5,500 retail staff across the UK showed that 18% of shop workers suffered a violent attack last year, compared to 8% in 2022. Six in ten respondents said that incidents of violence, threats and abuse they’d experienced were triggered by shoplifting or armed robbery. The increase in assaults comes during an epidemic of retail crime, with official statistics and reports from retailers showing significantly higher levels of theft from shops.
Paddy Lillis, Usdaw General Secretary says: “It is deeply disturbing for our members in Northern Ireland to see a further 13% increase in shoplifting over the last 12 months, after incidents have doubled since the pandemic. It is in stark contrast to all other theft offences, which are in decline. Thankfully overall crime rates in Northern Ireland are down by nearly 10%, so shoplifting surely has to become a priority.
“Shoplifting has long been a major flashpoint for violence and abuse against shop workers. The case for a separate criminal offence for abusing or assaulting a retail worker is clear, with Usdaw’s survey showing that physical assaults are at an all-time high. We fear retail crime is in danger of becoming normalised if action is not taken.
“A separate criminal offence will ensure greater visibility and awareness of the scale of the problem, prioritisation and resourcing from the police, certainty from courts and will send a clear message to members of the public that abuse and attacks against retail workers are wholly unacceptable. It will also allow the tracking of the data around cases as they progress through the criminal justice system.
“Retail workers in Scotland already have the protection of a separate, standalone criminal offence and now retail workers in England and Wales are set to have similar protections. Like the NIRC, we believe that there is a real danger that retail workers in Northern Ireland will get left behind. Together we strongly urge that legislation is introduced as soon as possible. When the retail trade union and retail employers come together, it should be time for politicians to sit up and listen.”
Northern Irish voices from the frontline: These are some of the comments shop workers in Northern Ireland shared when responding to Usdaw’s survey:
- “Spat at, potatoes thrown at me during evening shift. Drunk man called me a c**t when I refused his alcohol sale and tried to ram the trolley into me.”
- “Had a basket of shopping thrown at me on the customer service desk.”
- “Sexual assault, grabbed by customer, tried to kiss and getting in personal space.”
- “We get verbally abused nearly every day, especially asking customers for ID.”
- “Told to f*** off numerous times. Mostly doing Think 25.”
- “Name calling and threats over things that were not within my control.”
- “Working security, been approached by two males saying I was looking at them. They said they would take me outside and kill me.”
- “They screamed at me, called me a bitch and told me to f*** off.”
Notes for editors:
Usdaw (Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers) is one of the fastest growing unions in the TUC and the UK's fifth biggest trade union with around 360,000 members. Most Usdaw members work in the retail sector, but the union also has many members in transport, distribution, food manufacturing, chemical industry and other trades
www.usdaw.org.uk
Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) - Recorded Crime Statistics: https://www.psni.police.uk/about-us/our-publications-and-reports/official-statistics/police-recorded-crime-statistics
Usdaw’s Freedom From Fear campaign seeks to prevent violence, threats and abuse against workers by engaging the public, shop workers and the Government.
www.usdaw.org.uk/Campaigns/Freedom-From-Fear
Usdaw annual Freedom From Fear survey report: www.usdaw.org.uk/FFFReport2023
Protection of Workers (Retail and Age-restricted Goods and Services) (Scotland) Act 2021: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2021/6
For Usdaw press releases visit: http://www.usdaw.org.uk/news and you can follow us on Twitter
@UsdawUnion