Liverpool shop worker shares assault story as union urges Christmas shoppers to 'keep their cool'
Cassie needed medical intervention after being punched in the eye
Last updated 15th Dec 2023
A Liverpool shop worker has shared her shocking story about being assaulted at work as a trade union urges Christmas shoppers to 'keep their cool.'
Cassie was punched in the eye by a banned shopper as she was trying to stop her from leaving with stolen items.
She was wearing glasses and the punch caused so much damage that she needed her eyelid glued.
Cassie said:
"It was a very traumatic experience. You don't expect to go to work and be abused, I was just doing my job at the end of the day.
"I spent the whole weekend in bed. I had plans to go out on the Saturday night and physically I could not get out of bed - I was so in shock and upset over what happened to me, I just didn't expect that to have happened to me and I just spent days and days in bed - I didn't go into work, I didn't go into uni on the Monday either which obviously impacted my work and I just felt like I wasn't up to doing anything really.
"I'm very cautious"
"It did affect me emotionally and physically. but it's more the worry of travelling to work. I'm very cautious on the days that I've got to walk - I'm always on my guard, I'm always covering up my uniform with either a coat or a hoodie because I'm like anything like that could happen (again) and it's travelling from work, going home.
"You never stop being cautious, you never stop worrying thinking something bad could happen to me again."
Cassie has told us her experience as shocking new statistics from retail trade union Usdaw reveal that in the last 12 months:
- 65% of shopworkers in the North West have experienced verbal abuse
- 42% were threatened by a customer
- 5% were assaulted
- 71% of verbal abuse was caused by customer frustration
That is based on interim results from over 3,000 retail staff who were surveyed.
Cassie said:
"I know from people who I've worked with they've said they've had knives pulled out on them, they've been hit, smacked, spat at - the list is just ongoing reslly.
"It doesn't just happen to me, it happens everywhere.
"The first time it happened to me, my manager was really shocked that I came in a week later and they were like 'I thought you would have handed your notice in by now!'
"Obviously it has impacted me mentally, but at the end of the day, I'm a student and I need money and I was just thinking if I didn't go to work, I won't have any money to pay for the things I needed to get on by.
"I was thinking of handing my notice in, but many people can't do that - they've got bills to pay, they've got kids to feed.
There is particular concern about what the retail industry calls 'Super Saturday', with 23 December being the last full day before Christmas.
Paddy Lillis, Usdaw General Secretary, said:
"Our latest survey results clearly show the scale of the appalling violence, threats and abuse faced by retail staff.
"It is shocking that two-thirds of our members working in retail stores are suffering abuse from customers, with far too many experiencing threats and violence. Seven in ten of these incidents were triggered by customers being frustrated with stock shortages, lack of staff or problems with self-service checkouts.
"All of these problems are largely outside the control of retail staff, but they are the people who bear the brunt of shoppers’ anger. Our members tell us that incidents of verbal abuse are much worse in the run up to Christmas, when shops are busy, customers are stressed and things can boil over. That is why we are asking customers to ‘keep your cool’ and respect shopworkers, to make the Christmas shopping experience better for everyone."
Cassie adds:
"What I'd say to people obviously come into shops is obviously it is a really busy time of the year and there's only a few of us and we're all trying to do our job, which is to satisfy the customer.
"We're not against you"
"The thing is, obviously because it's so busy and so many people want help, what we want to say to customers is just be mindful of what you say and what you do because at the end of the day we're trying to help you.
"We're not against you."