03/29/2024

Wales News Online

Local & National News for Wales

NEIL Hamilton, AM for Mid & West Wales, and Leader of UKIP Wales is urging shoppers to show respect to people who work in shops in his Region.

Mr Hamilton is backing a ‘Keep Your Cool at Christmas’ Campaign launched by the union, Usdaw, which aims to highlight and prevent violence, threats and abuse to shop workers.

He said:

“I am pleased to support this campaign. It is totally unacceptable when people who work in shops are not treated with the respect they deserve.

“The figures from Usdaw are shocking and I am very concerned to learn about the increase in abuse and assaults. These people are providing a vital service to the public and should not have to live with the fear of being attacked.

“The theme of this year’s campaign is ‘Keep Your Cool at Christmas’ and I would urge everyone, especially in the run up to the festive period and Black Friday, to make sure they show respect for shop workers.”

Results of Usdaw’s Freedom From Fear Survey show that in 2018 over two-thirds of shop workers were verbally abused, 42% were threatened and around 265 were assaulted every day.

These are significant increases on last year’s survey with abuse and assaults up by 25% and threats increased by 38%.

The ‘Respect for Shop workers Week’ takes place at the beginning of November every year and is the central event for the ‘Freedom From Fear Campaign’.

This year the campaign is seeking to highlight the rising tension levels in stores during the Christmas shopping period, especially during the increasingly busy Black Friday sales, while reinforcing the message that abuse is not part of the job.

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