The shocking verbal abuse, threats and assaults faced by Northern Ireland shop workers

Northern Irish retail staff have spoken out about the violence, threats and abuse they have faced from members of the public over the past 12 months:

Retail trade union Usdaw has published the shocking statistics from its annual survey to mark Respect for Shop Workers Week, which runs from 11th-17th November.

And Usdaw members are raising awareness of the union’s year-round Freedom From Fear Campaign and talking to the public to promote a message of ‘respect for shop workers’.

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Interim results from over 4,000 retail staff responses show that in the last twelve months 69% have experienced verbal abuse while 45% were threatened by a customer and 17% were assaulted.

Meanwhile, 70% of these incidents were triggered by shoplifting and two-thirds of those were linked to addiction. These were some of the comments shop workers from Northern Ireland shared when responding to Usdaw’s survey.

“Yelled at for things being priced incorrectly when running them through tills. Had big bottles and stones thrown at me while on tills,” said one staff member.

Another added: “Verbal abuse every day the customer becomes very loud sometimes using foul language.”

Another spoke of "intimidation, name calling. and people getting mad because they don't agree with the store policies of self-service after 10pm.”

“I have had items thrown at me by customers, screamed at, finger pointing. A customer said he would be waiting for me in the street when I finished my shift,” said a fourth worker.

Another worker said: "I have long hair which is usually tied back in work. I've had customers pull it to get my attention.”

Paddy Lillis, Usdaw General Secretary, says these experiences from Northern Irish retail workers make very difficult reading and shop workers deserve far more respect than they receive and these experiences from Northern Irish retail workers make very difficult reading.

Mr Lillis, said: “It is shocking that over two-thirds of our members working in retail are suffering abuse from customers, with far too many experiencing threats and violence. Seven in ten of these incidents were triggered by theft from shops, which is clearly the result of a near doubling of police recorded shoplifting across Northern Ireland since the pandemic.

“It has become increasingly common for retail stores to be targeted by organised crime gangs stealing to order in the midst of a retail crime epidemic. Our survey demonstrates that theft from shops is not a victimless crime, with incidents regularly being a major flashpoint for violence and abuse against.”

He added: “Having to deal with repeated and persistent theft and even looting can cause issues beyond the incident itself like anxiety, fear and in some cases physical harm to retail workers.

“Our members are reporting that they are often faced with hardened career criminals in their stores and much of the abuse they suffer is from those who are stealing to sell goods on, often to fund an addiction.

“We welcome that the Northern Ireland Justice Minister has agreed to introduce a new offence of assaulting a person providing a public service, performing a public duty or providing services to the public.

“Usdaw and the Northern Ireland Retail Consortium made representations to the Minister on this matter and we look forward to continuing to engage with the Executive as this legislation passes through Stormont.

“This week, Usdaw activists will be campaigning in their workplaces and communities calling on the shopping public to ‘respect shop workers’ and ‘keep your cool’, particularly in the run-up to Christmas when the number of incidents increases as shops get busy and customers become frustrated.

“This is a hugely important issue for our members, and they are saying loud and clear that enough is enough.”

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