The Party of Wales Arfon Standing up for the people of Arfon

With the lead up to Christmas underway, Usdaw’s ‘Freedom From Fear Campaign’ aims to highlight and prevent violence, threats and abuse against shopworkers. Usdaw is a Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers, and their recent annual survey found that more than 300 shopworkers are abused or assaulted simply for doing their job every day.

Respect for Shopworkers Week takes place at the beginning of November each year and is the central event of the ‘Freedom From Fear Campaign’. The theme this year was 'Keep Your Cool at Christmas' reinforcing the message that abuse is not tolerated.

Assembly Member Siân Gwenllian for Arfon visited Tesco in Caernarfon to discuss the campaign and the experiences of front line shop workers. Cheryl Williams (Usdaw Union representative), Sorrell Lloyd and Sheila Evans explained to Siân that problems most often arise at the store late at night, especially during the weekend.

Sian Gwenllian AM said, ‘This situation is unacceptable. People who provide a service to the public deserve to be able to go about their job without the fear of abuse and violence’.

The 'Keep Your Cool at Christmas' campaign seeks to highlight the rising tension levels in stores during the Christmas shopping period, especially during the increasingly busy Black Friday sales.