Nobody should face violence, threats or abuse at their place of work.  That is why I was pleased when Scottish Labour & Co-operative Party MSP, Daniel Johnson, managed to secure legislation to protect retail workers.

Daniel Johnson’s Protection of Workers (Retail and Age-restricted Goods and Services) (Scotland) Act came into force two years ago today.  This Act shows the difference that Scottish Labour and Co-operative politicians can make.

I am the Convener of Dundee City Council’s Scrutiny Committee and that committee’s remit includes hearing from the local police commander about Police Scotland’s work in Dundee.  I am determined to use that role to help protect our communities and people working in our communities.

I was shocked to hear the Co-operative Group recently talk about over 1,000 crimes a day in their stores across the UK.  During the pandemic retail workers were heroes who made sure that still had food to eat.

Politicians often decide that retail workers should be on the front line of law enforcement, for example, in the sale of alcohol.  We need to make sure that retail workers have the full protection of the law to protect them.

I do not know what the situation is like in Dundee and that is why I am writing to the Police Scotland Divisional Commander for Dundee to find out what Police Scotland are doing in Dundee to tackle retail crime and how they are using the powers given to them in Daniel Johnson’s law.

Big retailers like the Co-op agree with trade unions like Usdaw agree that retail crime is a problem and I will trying to make sure that Police Scotland use all the powers that they have to ensure that nobody faces violence, threats or abuse at work.