Stephen Morgan today visited local Co-Op store in Portsea to show his support for USDAW’s Respect Shopworkers week running from 13-19 November, following his lobbying of Government to take urgent action to tackle rising shoplifting and abuse against shopworkers.
It comes as retail trade union USDAW release shocking statistics from their annual survey which estimate that in the last 12 months:
- 65% have experienced verbal abuse
- 42% were threatened by a customer
- 5% were assaulted
- 60% of these incidents were triggered by shoplifting and two-thirds of those were linked to addiction
The annual Respect for Shopworkers Week runs from 13-19 November, with USDAW members raising awareness of the union’s year-round Freedom from Fear Campaign, talking to the public to promote a message of ‘respect for shopworkers’ and to campaign for a standalone offence of assaulting or abusing shopworkers, which already exists in Scotland.
Visiting the Co-Op store on Queen Street Portsea, Mr Morgan met with staff management and staff to discuss their issues and concern amid reports that shoplifting has reached a record high across the country.
Co-Op have similarly reported that they have seen a huge rise in incidents in their stores in 2023, with 1,000 incidents every day across Coop’s 2,500 stores in first 8 months of 2023 – a 41% rise compared to 2022
In addition, Co-Op also report a rise of 25% in physical attacks on our colleagues in 2023 compared to 2022 and more than 100 Co-op colleagues receive serious verbal abuse every day
Mr Morgan has condemned the rise in abuse and violence against shopworkers in Portsmouth and across the country and has said that shopworkers deserve our communities without fear or concern for their safety.
Following the visit, commenting City MP Stephen Morgan said:
“I am grateful to the Co-Op for hosting me during this year’s Respect Shopworkers Week to learn more about the challenges being faced by hardworking staff in their stores.
“I am proud to support USDAW’s campaigning to send a signal that violence and abuse against retail workers will not be tolerated any longer.
“Now more than ever I encourage shoppers in Portsmouth to treat shopworkers with kindness, particularly in the run-up to Christmas when the number of incidents increases as shops get busy and customers become frustrated.”
Mr Morgan has recently written to the Minister for Policing to follow up concerns regarding the worrying rise in shoplifting and antisocial behaviour in Portsmouth, inviting the Minister to meet with local retailers to hear concerns and discuss what actions can be taken to tackle the crisis.
It follows a range of actions undertaken by the Portsmouth MP to lobby the Government to take action to tackle shoplifting, as well as raising concerns on the parliamentary floor, meeting with local police and retailers, and campaigning for more bobbies on the beat.
