'Threatened by shoplifters': Retail workers in Shropshire speak out about the threats they face

Shropshire shop workers have spoken out about violence, threats and abuse that they face when they go to work.

Retail trade union Usdaw has launched shocking statistics from its annual survey during this year’s Respect for Shop Workers Week.

The week runs from Monday to Sunday this week and the union has highlighted the link with shop theft.

In Shropshire the comments that the union has received include: “General frustration if things are not going quickly enough on the checkouts.”

And on self-service some customers take out their frustrations on tills and handsets if they are not working properly.

One person who responded said: “Mainly on self-service where customers take out their frustrations of the tills and handsets not working properly.”

Another said they had been “threatened by shoplifters.”

Usdaw members are raising awareness of the union’s year-round Freedom From Fear Campaign and talking to the public to promote a message of ‘respect for shop workers’.

Interim results from over 4,000 retail staff responses show that in the last 12 months:

• Way more than half of them - 69 per cent - have experienced verbal abuse.

• 45 per cent were threatened by a customer.

• 17 per cent were assaulted.

• 70 per cent of these incidents were triggered by shoplifting and two-thirds of those were linked to addiction.

Other responses from Wales and Birmingham had similar themes.

In Birmingham someone was “Threatened with being killed while customer had their head pressed against mine and also being poked.”

In Staffordshire one said: “A man pulled out an axe when we asked him to leave because he was stealing”

Paddy Lillis, Usdaw General Secretary says: “Shop workers deserve far more respect than they receive and these experiences from retail workers make very difficult reading.

“It is shocking that over two-thirds of our members working in retail are suffering abuse from customers, with far too many experiencing threats and violence.

“Seven in ten of these incidents were triggered by theft from shops, which is clearly the result of a 27 per cent ncrease in police recorded shoplifting across the West Midlands over the year to June.

“It has become increasingly common for retail stores to be targeted by organised crime gangs stealing to order in the midst of a retail crime epidemic.

“Our survey demonstrates that theft from shops is not a victimless crime, with incidents regularly being a major flashpoint for violence and abuse against shop workers.

The union has welcomed Labour 's new Crime and Policing Bill announced in the King’s Speech.

This week, Usdaw activists will be campaigning in their workplaces and communities calling on the shopping public to ‘respect shop workers’ and ‘keep your cool’, particularly in the run-up to Christmas when the number of incidents increases as shops get busy and customers become frustrated.

“This is a hugely important issue for our members, and they are saying loud and clear that enough is enough.”