And Tony Doonan, the regional secretary for Scotland, claims there is a retail crime ‘epidemic’ and organised crimes are targeting stores.
As well as 17 percent being assaulted, 69% have experienced verbal abuse and 45% were threatened by a customer.
The results are from a survey of 4,000 retail staff over the last year and incidents include one person being stabbed by a screwdriver, another being held up at knife point, people being punched in their chest, unwanted sexual attention, racial abuse and much more.
Its said 70% of the incidents were triggered by shoplifting while two-thirds of them were linked to addiction.
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One worker in Glasgow also had a jar of coffee smashed over their head while some in Mid-Scotland Fife reported men following their car.
In South Scotland, one person responded to say: “Customers grabbing my waist, pulling my hair, grabbing my shoulder/arms/legs, telling me they stalk me, telling me to meet them after work, making sexual comments toward me.”
Mr Doonan said: “Shop workers deserve far more respect than they receive and these experiences from Scottish retail workers make very difficult reading.
“It is shocking that over two-thirds of our members working in retail are suffering abuse from customers, with far too many experiencing threats and violence. Seven in ten of these incidents were triggered by theft from shops, which is clearly the result of a near doubling in police recorded shoplifting across Scotland since the pandemic.
“It has become increasingly common for retail stores to be targeted by organised crime gangs stealing to order in the midst of a retail crime epidemic.
“Our survey demonstrates that theft from shops is not a victimless crime, with incidents regularly being a major flashpoint for violence and abuse against shop workers.
“Having to deal with repeated and persistent theft and even looting can cause issues beyond the incident itself like anxiety, fear and in some cases physical harm to retail workers.
“Our members are reporting that they are often faced with hardened career criminals in their stores and much of the abuse they suffer is from those who are stealing to sell goods on, often to fund an addiction.
“Violence and abuse is not an acceptable part of the job and much more needs to be done to protect shop workers. We were delighted to have won the campaign for a protection of workers law in the Scottish Parliament, but that is the beginning not the end.
“We have to ensure that the legislation is central to tackle a growing wave of retail crime and Usdaw looks forward to working with Police Scotland to make that happen.
“This week, Usdaw activists will be campaigning in their workplaces and communities calling on the shopping public to ‘respect shop workers’ and ‘keep your cool’, particularly in the run-up to Christmas when the number of incidents increases as shops get busy and customers become frustrated. This is a hugely important issue for our members, and they are saying loud and clear that enough is enough.”
