Yahoo Finance Young Woolworths worker's horror revelation about supermarket job: 'Spat on'
The staffer listed the horrifying instances of abuse they cop all the time from angry customers.
A teenage Woolworths worker has opened up about the harrowing abuse they suffer from customers on a nearly daily basis. They penned a note detailing how they've been spat on, hit with trolleys and had verbal abuse directed at them simply for doing their job.
Woolworths recently invested $40 million to try and protect their staff from abusive customers, with the security upgrade including controversial body-worn cameras, headsets and personal duress devices. A spokesperson told Yahoo Finance they were "alarmed" by the young worker's experience.
The 19-year-old works part-time at the supermarket while studying at university and has been left questioning: "Why do you hate us?"
They said 40 per cent of their interactions with customers were now "outright abusive".
"I have been physically jammed in the back with a trolley by a customer, due to not opening a register, as I was the self-serve attendant, spat on because I couldn’t offer a refund for a product purchased at Coles, had things thrown at me because we didn’t have an item in stock, called a C-bomb because I couldn’t serve smokes to a young boy without proof of age, threatened in the car park after my shift because I work for the 'price gougers', and more," the worker, who wanted to remain anonymous, said.
RELATED
Woolworths unveils new way to combat cost-of-living crisis: 'Never miss a special'
Game-changing' money tactic to make extra $50,000 a year: 'Entirely possible'
Are you a worker suffering on the job? Email stew.perrie@yahooinc.com
The teenager said working at the supermarket is great on the good days. Interacting with friendly customers, whether they're regulars, kids, or out-of-towners, always puts a smile on the worker's face.
But when it's bad, it's awful.
"In the last year, the abuse me and my coworkers seem to cop is in comparison to the way we were treated during COVID, if not worse," they said.
"I just don’t understand why so many of you, hate us. By 'us' I am not referring to the company, the CEO, the upper management, or [the] head office team, I mean the everyday workers on the shop floor, checkouts, dock, office, deli, bakery."
The worker said so many instances of horrible behaviour are the result of circumstances outside of their control and yet they are the ones who cop it every time.
We don’t make the decisions on behalf of the company, but we are the frontline workers who get all the abuse, and it seems, at least from the comments I’ve read, so many people don’t lose a wink of sleep over it," they said.
"I just don’t understand what it is that we everyday people (just like many of you) do, to make you so angry and cruel towards us, due to the decision or decisions from a company we simply cannot control."
Other workers speak out: 'Happens way too often'
The anonymous Woolies worker was backed up by some of their colleagues who shared their instances of disgusting customer behaviour.
"I totally agree with you the abuse is getting out of control," said one person.
"I worked for Coles and Woolworths, got things thrown at me, ducked a punch from a guy on a high from drugs, spat on, yelled at, cornered by an angry customer who couldn't find the use by date on honey, almost hit when doing the trolley in the car parks....list goes on!" wrote another.
A third added: "It happens way too often when we are just doing a job we get paid to do...I too have been physically attacked and threatened and I'm 70yrs old, some people think it's their right to treat us like crap."
What is Woolies doing to protect staff?
Outgoing Woolies CEO Brad Banducci called out the horrific behaviour supermarket workers faced on the job after a "significant rise" in the number of acts of aggression.
“In the past fortnight, we have had team members punched, spat on and other recent incidents including threats with a range of weapons from baseball bats, iron bars to knives. We are also seeing aggression and violence against our home delivery drivers with one driver recently pulled from his truck at gunpoint," he said.
“This behaviour is unacceptable in our stores, across our delivery network - or in any workplace. That’s why we need to continue to invest in safety for our team and customers and work with the broader retail industry and government to help tackle this extremely worrying trend.
In December last year, the supermarket revealed there had been more than 2,000 reports of abuse lodged in less than six months.
A spokesperson for Woolworths told Yahoo Finance that staff were doing the "very best they can" to help customers and deserved respect.
"It’s alarming to hear about this team member’s experiences," they said.
"The majority of our customers do the right thing but we have a number of initiatives that we use, both covert and overt, to help reduce violence and aggression in our stores.
"All of our team are trained and have a number of tools available to keep them and our customers safe in the event of conflict or anti-social behaviour."
The supermarket's representative admitted violence and aggression was "not an issue we can solve on our own".
"We support legislation that has been developed to increase penalties for those who commit these types of offences, and we are open to discussions on other legislation designed to assist in retail environments," the spokesperson said.
Get the latest Yahoo Finance news - follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram.
