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Usdaw and NIRC campaign wins protection for shop workers in Northern Ireland as the Justice Minister Naomi Long agrees to introduction of new offence

Date: 06 August 2024 Retail trade union Usdaw welcomed the news that the Justice Minister will introduce a new offence of assaulting a person providing a public service, performing a public duty or providing services to the public.
The change comes after Usdaw and the Northern Ireland Retail Consortium made representations to the minister highlighting statistics from the Police Service of Northern Ireland showing that shoplifting in Northern Ireland had more than doubled since the pandemic. Results from Usdaw’s annual survey also reported that six in 10 incidents of violence, threats and abuse were triggered by shoplifting or armed robbery.

The Justice Minister, who agreed that the aggression displayed to retail workers was unwarranted and unacceptable, will introduce to the Assembly a new offence by way of a Sentencing Bill. This will provide the protection retail workers so desperately need.
 
Paddy Lillis, Usdaw General Secretary says: “We welcome the Justice Minister moving rapidly on this issue and confirming that this new offence will be introduced in the Assembly in 2025.
 
“We are pleased to see that the offence goes further than what we called for and will rightly cover all public-facing workers. This will send a clear message to those abusing and assaulting public-facing workers that what they are doing is unacceptable and will land them with a stiffer sentence. Our hope is that this will result in retail staff getting the respect they deserve.”

Director of Northern Ireland Retail Consortium Neil John says: “I am delighted that the Justice Minister has agreed to legislate on this crucial issue and that shop workers in Northern Ireland will receive the same protection as their colleagues in the rest of the UK.”

Notes for editors:
 
Usdaw (Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers) is one of the fastest growing unions in the TUC and the UK's fifth biggest trade union with around 360,000 members. Most Usdaw members work in the retail sector, but the union also has many members in transport, distribution, food manufacturing, chemical industry and other trades www.usdaw.org.uk

Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) - Recorded Crime Statistics: https://www.psni.police.uk/system/files/2024-06/

Usdaw's Freedom From Fear campaign seeks to prevent violence, threats and abuse against workers by engaging the public, shop workers and the Government. 
www.usdaw.org.uk/Campaigns/Freedom-From-Fear 

Usdaw annual Freedom From Fear survey report: www.usdaw.org.uk/FFFReport2023 

For Usdaw press releases visit: http://www.usdaw.org.uk/news and you can follow us on Twitter/X @UsdawUnion

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