Rosie Winterton

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ROSIE AND USDAW GIVE VERBAL ABUSE A RED CARD

Doncaster Central MP Rosie Winterton is supporting Usdaw’s  “United Against Abuse” campaign to give a red card to verbal abuse after a new survey found a staggering 95% of retail staff have been verbally abused by customers.

Wednesday 12 July is national Respect for Shopworkers day.  Usdaw United Against Abuse teams across the UK will be handing out red cards reminding shoppers that verbal abuse is a form of intimidation suffered by millions of retail workers every year. According Usdaw at least one million shop workers are verbally abused each day.

Rosie  says
“Most shoppers would never think of physically assaulting a shopworker, but many seem to think it is alright to shout, scream and hurl abuse into the faces of retail staff.

 “If shoppers feel themselves losing control in a shop, take a step back and understand that no situation in a shop, no matter how stressful, gives you the right to verbally abuse a retail worker.”

Usdaw’s General Secretary, John Hannett said,
 “Last year verbal abuse of shop staff shot up by an alarming 35%.  Our members are saying enough is enough and they will no longer tolerate vile abuse as part of their daily working lives.

“Football referees can use a red card against players who verbally abuse them so our members will be using an Usdaw red card to spread the message that abusing staff is unacceptable.

“Our members can suffer a terrifying catalogue of physical abuse from being stabbed, hit with iron bars and being threatened with dirty syringes, but vicious verbal abuse day after day can be psychologically damaging, resulting in many shopworkers quitting their jobs.”
Usdaw members report that serious instances of graphic swearing, sexist comments, homophobic abuse and racist taunts from out of control shoppers are rising sharply.