Union wants police to monitor supermarkets amid panic buying

Police should be sent to South Australian supermarkets to keep order and protect staff as hoarders continue to strip shelves, a union says. About time or overkill? VOTE IN THE POLL

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Police should be deployed into supermarkets to ensure the safety of retail workers and keep aggressive customers calm, the state’s largest union says.

The SDA, which represents supermarket workers, told The Advertiser coronavirus-led panic buying had caused many workers to become victims of abuse and undue stress.

SDA secretary Josh Peak said purchasing limits – which retail workers were having to enforce – had meant more workers were putting themselves in harm’s way.

“If we expect retail workers to enforce restrictions on purchasing, there needs to be police and security to back them up when customers challenge it,” Mr Peak said.

The Advertiser revealed today that shops will be legally able to trade around the clock from Monday to Friday under new emergency measures set to start on Saturday and run for 30 days.

Mr Peak, who described the extended trading hours as “unnecessary”, said the State Government should deploy police to supermarkets to guarantee public safety – a key reason cited for the extended hours.

“We believe that police presence in every major supermarket as a temporary measure would help restore order and encourage customers to stay calm,” he said.

But Premier Steven Marshall said it was not the role of the government to tell police what to do.

And Police Commissioner Grant Stevens said officers were already watching shopping centres.

“It is disappointing that people are resorting to this sort of panic buying and I think the message is quite clear – it’s unnecessary,” Mr Stevens said.

“We are keeping an eye on shopping centres to make sure people are behaving in accordance with our expectations.”

Mr Marshall defended the new measures.

“Logic tells you when you spread the hours you spread the people and minimise the risk,” he said.

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But South Australian Independent Retailers chief executive Colin Shearing said the government’s decision was “absurdity of epic proportions”.

“This is a time when we need to be supporting and backing our local independents,” he said.

“We don’t need more (shopping) hours. We need more hours to fill our stores. “We do not need this and it will not work and it will exacerbate and it will just compound the whole issue we’ve got out there at the moment.”

New rules were also introduced today making it easier for trucks to travel through suburban streets to carry out drop-offs and pick-ups.

Woolworths state manager Karl Weber said the supermarket giant was “ greatly appreciative of the quick and supportive actions … to temporarily extend trading hours”.