Shop staff 'in fear of abuse at work'

A snapshot of a week in the life of retail staff showed a rising tide of violence and abuse, including racial and sexual incidents. Their union, Usdaw, called for more protection to be given to shopworkers as part of a week-long campaign urging the public to "show more respect".

A special survey commissioned by the union showed that refusing to sell alcohol and cigarettes to under-age youths was a major flashpoint in shops.

The union asked a random sample of 660 shopworkers to record incidents over a seven-day period last month. The study revealed 887 incidents of verbal abuse, including being spat at, sworn at and insulted, and 224 threats, including threats to kill or burn down a shop.

There were 107 cases of violence, ranging from slapping and kicking to being attacked in the street, as well as 48 cases of sexual harassment and 32 incidents of racial abuse.

Unacceptable abuse

On average, the study shows that shopworkers are verbally abused every 3.75 days, threatened every 15 days and are victims of violence once each month.

Usdaw general secretary John Hannett said: "Usdaw's survey has revealed that many shopworkers are going to work in fear of being a victim of violence, threats or abuse - and that is totally unacceptable.

"It is time for this hard-working sector of the workforce to be given the respect they deserve and the protection they should have as a basic workplace right."

The union demanded that a proof-of-age scheme be introduced nationwide in a bid to tackle problems related to the sale of alcohol and cigarettes.

Crime survey

Last week the Co-operative Group published the findings of a crime study involving 2,500 of its food stores across the UK.

Its report, entitled "Retail crime: Fighting anti-social behaviour", revealed that the number of crime incidents recorded by Co-operative Societies had risen by 36% last year, up from 25,293 in 2002/03 to 34,530 in 2003/04.

While the majority (81%) of these were shoplifting incidents, physical assaults against staff increased by 9% over the same period. Almost half (40%) of all violent attacks on staff occurred when they tried to stop someone from stealing.

Worryingly, there was also an 80% increase in arson attacks, rising from 76 to 137.

The report also revealed that Co-operative Societies spent £14.79m on crime prevention measures in 2003/04.

Martin Beaumont, chief executive of the Co-operative Group, said: "The fact that the number of incidents recorded by Co-operative Societies has increased by 36% over the last twelve months is a great cause for concern.

"Retail crime is not going away. In fact, the problems are, if anything, getting worse. The figures concerning violence against staff, robbery, burglary, theft, fraud and arson have all increased since last year."

Max Herd