South Yorkshire shop workers 'scared to go to work' as customer abuse soars
Staff have been spat at, mugged and physically attacked in our county
Last updated 10th Mar 2021
We're told South Yorkshire shop workers have been spat at, mugged and physically attacked as abuse from customers gets worse and worse during the pandemic.
New stats from the USDAW retail union show 8 in 10 staff think verbal and physical attacks have worsened during Covid.
88% said they'd experienced verbal abuse, 60% had been threatened by a customer and 9% had been assaulted according to a new survey.
One shop worker in South Yorkshire told the union “I had a trolley thrown into my stomach.” Another was “spat at by a shoplifter” and one said they were “mugged in the car park, stole handbag and shopping" as well as "hit by an old man with his stick.”
Christina Destephano works in a Sheffield supermarket and has been on the receiving side of abuse during Covid.
She says it has a real impact:
"It's very scary to be going into work, not only in a pandemic, but then to also face another threat which is the abuse of the customers. We're actually worried to go to work and then the double worry on top of that is that we're going to face abuse when we get to work."
"People complaining about having to queue outside before they do their shopping is a main example. They can get very irate with customer assistants or the security guards that are on the doors. And they aim all their anger at one person because that person is in front of them."
There are now calls for tougher laws to proect shop workers from abuse while they do their job.
Christina thinks the rise in abuse is fuelled by frustration during the pandemic:
"When there is a change in society, and one as massive as this, people sometimes don't know how to adapt to that change. People have been lashing out in anger and taking it out on the wrong people. Us being on the frontline, not to mention doctors and NHS workers, we've all been suffering this abuse.
"You wouldn't go to your manager at work and abuse them if your pay wasn't right. That's how we feel in retail. If there's something's not on the shelf, you come to a customer assistant, you hurtle abuse at them.
"If you just stood back, realise that that is a person, you're more likely to get the outcome you want."