Spate of anti-social and violent behaviour at Woolworths Sandy Bay causes concern
‘Juvenile shop thieves’ have been causing trouble for supermarket employees and shoppers, with a union saying violence towards retail workers was on the rise in Tasmania.
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The union representing retail workers says that violence and abuse towards its members has increased by more than 40 per cent in Tasmania.
It comes as Woolworths Sandy Bay experiences a spate of anti-social and violent behaviour towards staff and shoppers.
One person contacted the Mercury saying their grandson, who worked at the supermarket, came to the aid of a female colleague after he had finished his shift who was being “threatened and intimidated by a gang of juvenile shop thieves.”
He claimed his grandson was “violently attacked by the offender when he went to his colleague’s assistance when no other staff member did.”
In addition, he said his grandson had his employment terminated due to the incident.
When The Mercury contacted the grandson, he said he could not comment as a nondisclosure agreement prevented him from speaking out.
Jacqueline Townley recently witnessed a number of youths engaging in anti-social behaviour at Woolworths Sandy Bay.
“They were just mouthing off and carrying on – and they had full-face bike helmets on, which is also intimidating,” Ms Townley said.
“They went into the aisle where the deodorants are and were just spraying them willy nilly, so the whole place started to stink.”
Ms Townley said she complained to a staff member and the store manager.
The youths were eventually kicked out of the supermarket, but according to Ms Townley, the store manager hesitated to act.
Shop, Distributive, and Allied (SDA) Employees Association Tasmania General Secretary Joel Tynan said he was aware of the incidents at Woolworths Sandy Bay and that similar incidents were occurring across the retail industry.
“Anecdotally, we’re hearing more and more about this from our membership, and it’s getting to a point where it’s just ridiculous.”
Mr Tynan said some SDA members felt unsafe going to work.
“We’ve had some members tell us, particularly where there’s been egregious and rare instances of real bad violence in retail, they’ve come out feeling like they are in a war zone.
“Our members are telling us it’s a daily occurrence, and it should be par for the course for a day in retail for our members.”
Mr Tynan urged the Tasmanian government to do more to protect retail workers.
“We’ve been calling on the government to look at bringing in workplace protection order schemes similar to that in South Australia and also for tougher consequences for those that assault a retail worker, similar to the reforms that have been brought in by the Minns government in New South Wales.”
A Tasmanian government spokesperson said anyone who witnessed anti-social behaviour should call the police immediately.
“As a government, we could not be clearer – physically or verbally assaulting someone at their workplace is totally unacceptable,” the spokesperson said.
“Last year, the Tasmanian Government passed legislation to better protect frontline workers, including retail workers.
“Those who cause serious bodily harm to Tasmania’s retail workers will be facing a presumption of a minimum of six months imprisonment for the offence.
“Our retail workers do an amazing job for the community every single day, and these strong laws are a powerful deterrent that will give potential offenders a reason to think twice.”
A Woolworths spokesperson said its team members were increasingly subjected to verbal abuse and physical aggression.
“We have a number of initiatives that we use, both covert and overt, to help reduce retail crime,” the spokesperson said.
These initiatives include the use of camera technology at the check-outs, double welcome gates, CCTV and a trial of gates at the exit to our self-serve checkout area.
“The majority of our customers do the right thing, and we thank them for doing so.”
Originally published as Spate of anti-social and violent behaviour at Woolworths Sandy Bay causes concern
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