Jack Dromey told Usdaw activists yesterday that the next Labour government will introduce a specific offence for assaulting a worker.

Addressing a lunchtime fringe, Mr Dromey described the 120,000 assaults a year on shopworkers as a “national scandal,” slamming the Tory led government for doing nothing to protect staff.

The shadow police minister told the Morning Star: “We have pressed the government to act. If they don’t we will.

He promised to “strengthen the law,” making sure it’s effectively enforced and that bosses take action.

Mr Dromey also said he would be working with the union and employers to setup a retail crime summit in the near future.

He added: “For too long our criminal justice system has let us down.

“The police have thus far not taken sufficiently seriously crime against shop workers. And the government has lamentably failed to protect our nation’s shopworkers including cutting 15,000 police officers.”

Usdaw general secretary John Hannett welcomed Labour’s commitment and insisted the union would keep pushing the issue.

Union members shared their experiences of crime in the workplace, with some facing extreme assaults with deadly weapons and others forced to go off sick after sustaining serious injury due to attacks.

Shopworker George Dotters recalled being attacked with a club and stabbed by a well-known criminal — the attacker was jailed for not paying his fine rather than the assault.

He said: “There is no consistency in the courts about this issue.”