ABUSE

Jackie Baillie, MSP for Dumbarton Constituency, supports a proposed law in the Scottish Parliament which seeks to protect local shop-workers from violence and abuse.

Daniel Johnson, Scottish Labour MSP for Edinburgh Southern, has introduced the Protection of Workers (Retail and Age-restricted Goods and Services) (Scotland) Bill. The proposed bill has now passed two of the three stages of scrutiny that every proposed bill must go through within the Scottish Parliament before it becomes law.

The bill is also supported by USDAW trade union. Jackie Baillie has teamed up with USDAW on a number of occasions to raise awareness of the abuse that shop-workers currently face and to urge employers and the Scottish Government to take action.

Incidents of violence and abuse against shop-workers have risen sharply over recent years, according to the Scottish Retail Crime Survey. Many of the violent incidents are triggered by refusal of sale when a customer cannot prove their age when purchasing age-restricted products like alcohol or tobacco.

Jackie Baillie MSP said:

“I am delighted to support the campaign to end violence and abuse against shop-workers..

“Abuse should not be part of a shop-worker’s job and nobody should face the possibility of being threatened when they go to work. Nevertheless, abuse has become part of everyday working life for too many workers in the retail sector. They face regular threats and abusive behaviour from customers, and it is simply not good enough.

“I urge my colleagues in the Scottish Parliament to add their own support to this bill. Every employee has the right to feel safe in their workplace and those who are violent should feel the full force of the law.”