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NEARLY 10 per cent of shop workers are victims of violence by customers, an Usdaw survey revealed yesterday.
The shopworkers’ union released its shocking findings ahead of the Black Friday shopping frenzy later this month.
Nearly a quarter of those who suffered physical attacks over the past year, 22 per cent, did not report it to their employer, according to Usdaw’s research.
More than half of the 2,536 surveyed workers had been verbally abused by customers and a 10th of them disrespected on a weekly or daily basis.
Though the number of attacks has dropped compared with previous years, the number of incidents is still “shockingly high” and workers’ refusals to report aggression is “concerning,” the union said.
Usdaw general secretary John Hannett said: “My message to shopworkers is very clear — abuse is not a part of the job.
“However, it is really important that staff do tell their manager when they experience violence, threats or abuse. If they report it we can help sort it.”
Christmas was a time when abuse could increase “dramatically,” Mr Hannett said.
Black Friday, on November 27, an imported shopping “tradition” from the US cooked up by desperate money-grabbing bosses, will cause “mayhem” in shops selling items at hyped-up discounts, he added.
On Black Friday last year police were called to shops all over Britain to deal with unruly and abusive customers, shoppers fighting over discounted goods, huge crowds and traffic jams.
The union launched Respect for Shopworkers Week yesterday and activists will be campaigning in supermarkets and town centres to remind customers to be civil to shop staff.
