Neil Bibby, MSP for West Scotland, has shown his support for Renfrewshire’s shopworkers by hosting a summit at the Wynd Centre in Paisley to discuss the issue of abuse and harassment by customers.
The Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers (USDAW), which represents retail workers, says that customer abuse towards shopworkers is becoming an increasingly common occurrence across the UK.
Together with the USDAW union, Mr Bibby’s event was attended by Local Policing Inspector Ross Wilson, Natalie McShane of Paisley First, which represents businesses in Paisley town centre, and Paisley Labour councillor Janis McDonald.
The community figures and representatives heard of the hassle local shopworkers have to endure on an almost daily basis.
Many workers who fall victim to abuse are women and young people, and the difficulty of dealing with shoplifters has been highlighted as a particular problem. There are calls for more support to deal with this.
Commenting after the event, Neil Bibby MSP said: “Many of us will have heard in the news of a rise in abuse towards shopworkers across Scotland recently, but to hear first-hand the experiences local workers have gone through was troubling.
“Renfrewshire’s retail workers are a key part of our community and they should be supported in the valuable work they do – not harassed for it.
“I would encourage people to treat shopworkers with respect and to report incidents of abuse and assault to the police.
“I would also like to thank USDAW, Inspector Wilson, Ms McShane and Cllr McDonald for helping to raise awareness of this important issue, and I will continue to do all I can to make sure shopworkers’ voices are heard going forward.”
Photo: (Left to right) Natalie McShane, Cllr Janis McDonald, Neil Bibby MSP, Police Scotland Inspector Ross Wilson and a representative of the USDAW union.
Photo Credit: Neil Bibby’s office
Local Policing Inspector Ross Wilson said: “There is no justification for retail crime, and the theft of goods from stores or the harassment and intimidation of employees is certainly not victimless.
“When such offences take place, it can have a significant impact on retail workers, who then feel unsafe at their place of work. This is not acceptable.
“As part of our policing plans we have dedicated teams who work within the town centre to offer high visibility patrols and reassurance to businesses and retail workers.
“We will continue to work collaboratively with those business and the local authority to safeguard stores and robustly pursue those involved in this type of crime and ensure offenders are brought to justice.”
USDAW General Secretary Paddy Lillis said: “We are grateful to Neil Bibby MSP for highlighting that far too many retail workers suffer incidents of violence, abuse and threats.
“No-one should feel afraid to go to work, where they are serving the community and providing an essential service.
“We continue to work with retailers, the Scottish Government and Police Scotland to help ensure that Scotland’s protection of shop workers law is fully utilised and that retail workers receive the protection and respect they deserve.”
Mr Bibby’s summit follows data released by USDAW recently which shows that, of almost 9,500 shopworkers surveyed across the UK last year, 77% reported being verbally abused, 53% threatened and 10% assaulted in the previous 12 months while at their place of work.