Scottish Co-operative Party MSP, Daniel Johnson, has sent a letter to the new Chief Constable of Police Scotland, Jo Farrell, calling for action on retail crime.  The Scottish Co-operative Party has co-signed the letter, along with Usdaw, the GMB, the Scottish Retail Consortium, the Scottish Grocers’ Federation, and the Federation of Independent Retailers.

Daniel Johnson was successful in making the Protection of Workers (Retail and Age-restricted Goods and Services) (Scotland) Act law, this law gives more protection to retail workers. Since it came into force in August 2021 it has been used a staggering 7,955 times.

As Daniel Johnson has said, “It is a scandal that so many shopworkers face violence and abuse at work.  Workers are too often bearing the brunt of retail crime, and the astonishing number of crimes being reported exposes the scale of this crisis.”

“The new legal protection offered by my bill was an important step forward, but it must be backed up with a comprehensive plan to prevent these crimes as well as prosecute them.”

“Shopworkers must be safe at work and the SNP must ensure the new Chief Constable has the support and resources she needs to make that a reality.”

Threats, violence, and abuse should never be part of the job — but for too many retail workers across Scotland, it’s becoming a daily routine.

We are proud of the role the co-operative movement played in securing legal protections for retail workers. Given the soaring levels of retail crime, it is more important than ever that Police Scotland make use of the new powers given to them by the law brought froward by Daniel Johnson and prioritise keeping our colleagues and communities safe.

We are proud to stand with workers, Co-operative retailers, trade unions, trade bodies, other retailers and the wider co-operative movement calling for action to protect retail workers and ensure that Police Scotland and the Crown Office use all the powers that they have to protect retail workers.