Christmas shoppers in Caithness urged to 'keep their cool' with shop staff
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Shoppers are being asked to ‘keep their cool’ in the last week of Christmas shopping.
Retail trade union Usdaw says its annual survey shows there are still far too many incidents of violence, threats and abuse against shopworkers.
Interim results from over 3000 retail staff responses show that in the last twelve months:
- 65% have experienced verbal abuse.
- 42% were threatened by a customer.
- 5% were assaulted.
- 71% of verbal abuse was caused by customer frustration.
One Highland shopworker said they had been “called horrible names and barged past by a customer who I asked to leave because he is barred for shoplifting”.
Paddy Lillis, Usdaw general secretary, said: “It is heart-breaking to hear these testimonies from Scottish shopworkers who deserve far more respect than they receive. Our latest survey results clearly show the scale of the appalling violence, threats and abuse faced by retail staff.
“It is shocking that two-thirds of our members working in retail stores are suffering abuse from customers, with far too many experiencing threats and violence. Seven in ten of these incidents were triggered by customers being frustrated with stock shortages, lack of staff or problems with self-service checkouts.
“All of these problems are largely outside the control of retail staff, but they are the people who bear the brunt of shoppers’ anger. Our members tell us that incidents of verbal abuse are much worse in the run up to Christmas, when shops are busy, customers are stressed and things can boil over. That is why we are asking customers to ‘keep your cool’ and respect shopworkers, to make the Christmas shopping experience better for everyone.”
