Union calls on shoppers to keep their cool over Christmas period
Shocking new research has revealed that nearly nine in ten retail and fast-food workers have been verbally abused in the past 12 months and one in four workers have been subjected to physical violence.
The survey of close to 3,000 workers, conducted by the SDA – the union for retail, fast food and warehouse workers – found that 88 per cent of respondents had experienced verbal abuse in the past 12 months.
25 per cent of workers have experienced physical violence – double the number who said they experienced physical violence in a 2023 survey and three times the figure reported in 2021. 31 per cent have experienced abuse or harassment related to their ethnicity, race or cultural background.
SDA National Secretary Gerard Dwyer said with the busy festive shopping season upon us, shoppers are being urged not to take their frustrations out on local workers.
“These alarming findings point to the urgent need for the introduction of Workplace Protection Orders to ban repeat offenders from stores,” said Mr Dwyer.
WPOs, which operate like AVOs, have proved a success in reducing retail crime in the ACT are about to be introduced in South Australia and Western Australia. The NSW and Victorian governments are committed to their introduction in response to SDA representations.
“NSW and Victoria must act with all speed to introduce WPOs in their jurisdictions,” said Mr Dwyer.
“These statistics show there can be no excuse for further delay. They are ‘win win win’; a win for retail workers, a win for shoppers and a win for the police who will have less crime to deal with.
“We all know the festive season can be incredibly stressful for people, but there’s never an excuse for taking your frustrations out on workers who are simply trying to do their job.”
Mr Dwyer said the survey – which is undertaken by the union every two years – points to some worrying trends.
“The findings of our survey point to horrific levels of abuse,” Mr Dwyer said.
“We’re at a point where almost every single retail and fast-food worker has experienced verbal abuse in the last year, and a huge percentage have experienced physical and sexual abuse. It simply can’t continue like this.
“These workers are members of our local communities – they’re sons and daughters, parents, grandparents who live in your neighbourhood. Shoppers need to do better, and what better time to start than Christmas.
“This Christmas we’re calling on everyone who heads to the shops to remember to keep their cool and respect the workers who are simply trying to do their job.”
Contact: Jim Middleton 0418 627066 or Alana Mew 0419 929722
Key findings from the survey of almost 3,000 workers found that in the past 12 months:
- 34% of members say they do not feel safe in their workplace
- 88% have experienced verbal abuse
- 25% have experienced physical violence (up from 12.5% in 2023)
- 19% have experienced sexual harassment
- 11% have experience online abuse
- 10% have been spat on
- 31% have experienced ethnicity/race/cultural background-related abuse or harassment (up from 24% in 2023)
- 59% have been abused by the same customer more than once
Background:
- The ACT introduced Workplace Protection Orders in 2016 leading to a significant reduction in assaults on retail workers
- WPOs operate like AVOs, barring repeat offenders from retail premises for up to 12 months
- They place no additional workload on police because they are applied for by the retailers and are issued by the court
- They have proved successful in the ACT in reducing the level of retail crime
- For example, Woolworths says that since it imposed WPOs on 13 “high harm” offenders in the ACT it had seen a 23 percent reduction in total offending across its Canberra stores.
- Reliable estimates indicate that 10 percent of repeat offenders are responsible for fully 60 percent of retail crime.
- South Australia announced details last month of laws to introduce Workplace Protection
- Western Australia is drafting legislation as a matter of urgency
- The NSW and Victorian government have publicly committed to introducing WPOs, but with no time frame