Abuse of shop workers during busy Christmas period is ‘inexcusable’

Sinn Féin Councillor Aisling Hutton said: “For many the Christmas period is an enjoyable and uplifting time, however, it can also be a stressful time.

“This is especially true for retail workers in our city, for whom this is their busiest period.

“The stress that shoppers experience is incomparable to the stress retail workers experience during this period, and it is inexcusable for any shopper to take their frustrations out on a shop worker.

“Unfortunately for many workers in the retail sector, this is exactly what happens during the Christmas season."

Colr. Hutton described the level of abuse, physical and verbal, directed towards retail workers as ‘concerning’.

“This is totally unacceptable – there must be a zero-tolerance approach to the verbal and/or physical abuse of retail workers,” she said.