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36
Our Perspective
Headline
No Room for
Harassment and
Violence in our
Retail Stores
By Stuart Appelbaum, President
Retail, Wholesale and Department
Store Union, UFCW
Twitter: @sappelbaum
Retail sales in the U.S. are already surging as
holiday shoppers are checking their lists
and buying their gifts for the 2021 holiday
season. It’s important that consumers are
returning to stores this holiday season; but we are also concerned about
an alarming uptick in harassment and abuse directed at retail workers,
especially this year.
Retail workers in New York — including thousands of RWDSU
members at stores including Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s, H&M, Zara, Guitar
Center, and more — are eager to welcome customers back into stores
this holiday season. However, workers are experiencing increased
aggression and poor treatment from stressed out shoppers.
It’s been a tough time for retail workers in the U.S. and across the
globe. Besides the risks to the health of workers and their families that’s
hung over retail during the entire pandemic, violence, abuse, and
harassment on the job skyrocketed. Tensions rose as stores and
governments instituted mask, social distancing, and other COVID safety
protocols, and retail workers bore the brunt of customers’ anger, often
fueled by misinformation and extreme political rhetoric. Workers were
yelled at, spat upon, coughed on, and worse. Some workers have even
been shot at — and some murdered — by irrational customers over
mask and COVID restrictions.
This type of behavior toward retail workers needs to end, and can’t
simply be shrugged off as “part of the job.” We owe it to these retail
workers — who have courageously served us throughout the darkest
days of the pandemic — to make this a stress-free holiday season. Even
in the best of times, the holiday season is very stressful for workers at
retail stores and supermarkets. Big crowds, irritable customers, hectic
days and the need for workers themselves to take care of their own
holiday obligations can all weigh heavily on workers’ shoulders this time
of year. In 2021, however, with the pandemic still a part of our lives, this
stress could be exponentially worse. All of this is aggravated by a
shortage of goods caused by supply chain problems this holiday season.
Retail workers can become the target of shoppers’ frustration when
customers hear that coveted holiday items are stuck on shipping
containers at sea and have been backordered for months; and especially
if they’ve gone to multiple stores only to go home empty handed.
This holiday season, we need to treat retail workers with dignity and
respect, and we must understand that our own stress and the problems
we are experiencing shouldn’t be placed on the shoulders of working
people. Workers are not to blame. Stores should provide security,
safety protocols and training to handle problems that
may arise. It’s a time to come together this holiday
season and do everything we can to reduce
stress and anxiety for each other, and especially
retail workers. A little extra kindness and
understanding will go a very long way this
holiday season.
www.rwdsu.org
/www.rwdsu.org
/EXP.DE
/www.rwdsu.org
