The Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) claims industry workers are becoming increasingly fearful about doing their jobs in a climate of heightened violence and harassment.
The group, which surveyed its members this spring on workplace safety this spring, said more than half (57 percent) of respondents have experienced verbal harassment or intimidating behavior from customers, co-workers or managers over the course of the past year.
In fact, as more organized retail theft rings, flash mobs and smash-and-grabs are reported from coast to coast, more than 80 percent of retail workers reported feeling worried about an active shooter coming into their workplace. Employers aren’t taking the issue seriously enough, they say—only 7 percent reported that their place of business made changes to the workplace after a violent incident, and over half said they’ve received no training at all on how to deal with shoplifters.
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The vast majority of retail employees (72 percent) said they would feel safer if they were to receive such training, including “understanding the risks they face, how to reduce those risks and what to do in the event violence occurs,” RWDSU’s data indicated. Even more (88 percent) said they would feel safer if a silent panic button was installed in their workplace.
“Based on these findings, as well as the reality of mass shootings in retail settings and the increase in daily violence, it is clear that we have reached a crisis point in this industry and it’s the time to act,” RWDSU said.
The union has thrown its support behind the Retail Worker Safety Act, a New York bill introduced by State Senator Jessica Ramos this spring that would compel employers to evaluate their workplaces for risks, develop a violence prevention plan, provide ongoing safety training for workers—and revisit these efforts annually. RWDSU is working with Ramos and New York State Assemblymember Karines Reyes, Chair of the Subcommittee on Workplace Safety to lobby for the passage of the legislation this year.
Across the country, politicians have introduced legislation that aims to tackle the issue of retail crime and retail workplace safety. In Virginia, an appeal on a July 2023 law that makes organized retail crime punishable by up to 20 years in prison was blocked in February. While detractors said it went too far, the law, which stipulates that a suspect can be charged with a Class 3 felony if they act in concert with others to steal retail property worth $5,000 from one or more stores over a 90-day period with the intent to sell the merchandise at a profit, will remain in place.
In California, a number of measures have been introduced to combat the crime wave.
Speaker of the California State Assembly Robert Rivas, along with chairman of the Select Committee on Retail Theft Rick Zbur and chairman of the Assembly Public Safety committee Kevin McCarty in February introduced the California Retail Theft Reduction Act, which targets repeat offenders. The bill stipulates that being caught with stolen property intended for sale would incur a sentence of up to three years in prison. Zbur said the law was conceived to address “professional retail thieves” who routinely shoplift to turn a profit.
Another bill introduced in the Golden State last week approaches retail crime and employee safety from another avenue. Senate Bill 1446, introduced by State Senator Lola Smallwood-Cuevas, would institute a rule where there may only be two self-checkout lanes monitored by any single employee, and shoppers would also be prohibited from purchasing more than 10 items at a time in self-checkout lanes. Certain products, like alcohol, tobacco and items that are typically locked in cabinets or tagged with electronic article surveillance would need to be purchased in conventional checkout lanes.
According to Smallwood-Cuevas, the rise of self-checkout has also contributed to a rise in shoplifting. The measure would protect employees from being overburdened with monitoring responsibilities, especially for heavily targeted or expensive items that are tagged and locked away.
